London
by byrhthelm
Summary: Warning: This is not a Harm/Mac fic. If you don't like Harm being paired with anyone else, then don't read it and then complain. This is a complete one shot sequel to 'Giving it a Try', some ten months after Harm PCS'd giving a glimpse of Life in London with Harm, Catherine, Beth and Mattie.


**AN: **This is a complete one-shot glimpse of Harm, Catherine and Mattie's life in London after Harm takes up the post of FJA NAVFOREUR. The story is set in June, eighteen months after Beth's birth and about ten months after Harm took up his new appointment.

**London**

"Well... what have we got here?" Harmon Rabb's eyebrows climbed three quarters of the way to his hairline as he stood in the kitchen doorway at the end of a long, office-bound day.

Catherine Rabb smiled and said softly, "What? You don't like?"

"Oh, I like, I like... I just wonder if you realise the picture you're presenting?"

"There's nothing wrong with the picture I'm presenting," Catherine demurred.

"Nothing wrong with it at all," Harm agreed as he drank in the sight of his wife, back lit by the evening sunlight streaming in through the window, which made her seem as if all she wore was the white muslin dress that revealed every curve.

"H'mm I thought so too..." Catherine murmured huskily as she undulated – that was the only word that fitted her form of locomotion, Harm decided – across the tiled floor towards him.

"Nothing wrong with it at all, if it's all for me," Harm repeated, aware that his own voice had dropped an octave or maybe even two, "But the girls?" he added anxiously.

"H'mm... let me see now..." Catherine closed the gap between them and rested her hands on his upper chest and gazed up into his eyes, "Miss Mattie Grace Rabb, will, I quote, 'be late home, going to a study date at Marilyn's', unquote... and Miss Elizabeth Rabb has finally consented to take a nap. So for the next, oh... two hours, we are, to all intents and purposes alone!"

"Ah well... in that case, let us not waste any more of those precious moments!" and Harm bent his head to capture her offered lips with his own, while his fingers were busy with the buttons that fastened the bodice of the dress.

As Catherine felt his hands come back up to her shoulders and ease the dress down over her upper arms, Catherine gave a little shimmy and the dress slipped down her body and legs to puddle on the floor to prove Ham's suspicions right. The dress was all that she wore.

With a noise halfway between a groan of torment and a cry of triumph, Harm bent and swooped, scooping Catherine up in his arms and carrying her towards the stairs that led to their bedroom on the upper floor.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

"So... who's Marilyn?" Harm asked some two hours later as he watched Catherine trying to persuade eighteen-month old Elizabeth, or Beth, as she was usually known, to eat just a little more of the puréed mixed vegetables before moving on to the stewed apple custard that was to be her dessert course.

"Umm..." Catherine paused for a second, her brow wrinkling as she strove to remember the details of her adopted daughter's increasingly complex and complicated social life, "Marilyn is Colonel Bryant's daughter... the Air Force Colonel who heads up the USAF Liaison to the RAF at Northolt..."

Harm grunted and nodded, Catherine's grasp of the inter-relationship, not only between the US Forces in Britain, but their relationships with the British Forces and their political masters was a godsend.

"Mind you," Catherine said, "I'm not sure if studying with Marilyn is the prime motivating factor on this particular visit..." she grinned mischievously as she left the end of her sentence hanging and then pretended to be absorbed in feeding another spoonful of puréed veg into Elizabeth.

Harm paused, his fork halfway to his mouth, "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.

"Well, from a very casual – suspiciously casual – comment dropped by the elder Miss Rabb, it appears that Second Lieutenant Bryant is visiting his parents while on leave from his station in Germany."

"Second Lieutenant? So... he'd be what, twenty-two? Or thereabouts?" Harm frowned.

"That would be about right," Catherine admitted. "Graduated West Point last year, seventeenth out of his class, chose armour, now stationed as assistant platoon leader in a tank battalion in Germany."

"And you know all this, how?" Harm asked, perturbed by the thought of his sixteen year old getting a crush on man who was six, maybe seven, years older than her.

"Oh... I asked Dunwoody if there was any information on the boy..." Catherine admitted.

Harm reflected moodily on both the information and its source. Catherine had been incredibly lucky. When Secretary of the Navy Sheffield had told Harm of his promotion and posting as FJA to NAVFOREUR, Catherine had had no hesitation in tendering her resignation from her job as legal counsel to the CIA at Langley. To her surprise, and gratification, and to a lesser extent Harm's, Director Kershaw had point blank refused to accept her resignation and instead had arranged for her to report to the CIA's Head of Station at the London Embassy as Consultant Legal Advisor. The head of Station Charles 'Chuck' Dunwoody had rapidly fallen under Catherine's spell and she could usually prevail upon him to obtain any information she needed or wanted. It was a plum job from a domestic viewpoint, Catherine was able to work from home for the most part, and on the rare occasions she needed to visit the embassy, Dunwoody was always delighted to see Beth, as was his secretary, a motherly, dark-eyed Latina from Florida's Gulf Coast.

Still despite his misgivings, it was a school night and Mattie was well aware that her curfew was firmly fixed at twenty-two thirty hours, and although she could on occasion be rebellious, the one month she had spent grounded for being adrift on a prior occasion had convinced her that Harm was serious when he set the limits on her social life.

Harm's silence was the cause of a raised eyebrow and a quizzical grin from Catherine, as she paused in the act of wiping Beth's mouth clean before turning to the stewed apple. Harm caught the look and with a shamefaced grin of his own he grunted in acceptance of Catherine's tidings and said, "Do you want me to take over, let you have some of your own dinner while it's still warm?

"No thanks, sailor, I got this covered," Catherine smiled.

"If you're sure?"

"I'm sure," Catherine assured him.

"Oh, well, in that case, if I'm not needed..." Harm grumbled, fighting to keep a straight face, and ostentatiously returned his attention to the cheese and potato pie she had made from the left over mashed potato from last night's dinner.

"Oh no, sailor. I am not falling for that one!" Catherine chuckled.

Harm looked up, no longer able to keep his grin from spreading across his face, "Damn, busted!" he mourned in exaggerated manner.

"Damn straight!" Catherine agreed, "But if you're a very good sailor, I'll let you bath her!"

"Aw, gee, thanks!" Harm said sarcastically. The truth was that he adored Beth and loved every second that he had with her, even bath-time, which was an occasion when it seemed that Beth believed it wasn't a proper bath unless the person bathing her was at least as wet as she was.

"You know, I put Beth's love of water down to all that time you spent swimming while you were pregnant!" Harm said, continuing his mock grumble.

"But you loved going to the pool with me, and watching me swim." Catherine reminded him.

"Oh, I didn't go to watch you," Harm said in a serious tone of voice and shook his head, "No, it was that tiny brunette who was almost wearing that bronze bikin... urgh!" he spluttered to a finish as the face cloth Catherine had used to wipe Beth's face sailed across the table and wrapped itself around his face.

For some reason that struck Beth as funny and she gurgled with amusement, prompting Catherine, who was having trouble trying not to laugh to comment, "Yes, sweetie, isn't daddy funny?"

Beth crowed her agreement, while Harm with every indication of distaste took the offending face-cloth and holding it between thumb and index finger turned around and casually tossed it into the kitchen sink.

"You are so going to pay for that, Catherine Mary Gale!" he said, making a major effort to sound ferocious.

"Now, sweetie, daddy's just being plain silly!" Catherine confided to her daughter, knowing full well that she was safe from any retribution while Beth was nearby.

"Da-da, da-da!" Beth agreed happily.

"So... I get to wash our daughter, while you wash the dishes?" Harm smiled at the by-play, giving up his attempt at sternness.

"You drive a hard bargain, sailor," Catherine smiled.

"I try, I try," Harm agreed complacently.

It was nearly an hour later that Harm finished buttoning a clean, dried and powdered Beth into her onesie and called Catherine upstairs to join in the nightly ritual of settling Beth into her crib. By the time she reached the nursery, Harm was sitting in the nursing chair with Beth cradled between his strong left arm and his chest, while reading "The Cat in the Hat" to her, and assisted by Beth pointing to the pages and insisting "Ca'" at each picture of the fictional feline.

Catherine paused in the doorway leaning casually against the frame, as she took in the sight of her six-foot four husband, and wondered, just for an instant what her life, and the life of her daughter might have been like if she had said 'no' to Harm's out of the blue proposal at a time when they barely knew each other. Giving herself a mental shake, Catherine told herself that it was a profitless exercise. She knew herself to be loved, and had fallen equally in love with the tall, strong, kind and inherently gentle and honourable man, who now sensing her presence stopped reading, and looking down at the fast fading child in his arms whispered, "I think it's time for mommy to come and tuck Beth into bed, don't you, sweetie?"

Beth turned her head to look at Catherine and waved a little hand to and fro as if in agreement, and Harm rose gently to his feet, carefully transferring his daughter to her mother's arms and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead before allowing Catherine the final step in the ritual.

Two minutes later the nursery door quietly closed, Harm and Catherine stood in the hallway, smiling at each other, these few minutes each evening after putting Beth to bed were always a special time for them, a time when they rarely said anything, but were content to silently affirm the bond of love that they shared. After a minute or so Catherine sighed, "Do you want to offer odds that she'll sleep though tonight?"

"Well...," Harm thought about it as he slipped his arm around Catherine's waist, allowing her to rest her head on his upper arm as they moved slowly towards the stairs. "She was pretty good this evening, I don't think I heard her grizzle one... how was she today?"

"A bit crotchety this morning..." Catherine answered slowly, as she thought back over the events of the day, "but that stopped by about... oh... eleven o'clock..."

"So... do you think she's finished?" Harm asked hopefully.

"Oh... I hope so..." Catherine said quietly but fervently. Although they both knew that teething was an inevitable step in their daughter's development, both of them had at first been pierced to the heart by Beth's discomfort, expressed as only a baby could, but as the process had drawn out their own upset had been diluted with impatience as a succession of sleepless nights added fatigue to the stress they were undergoing.

Mattie had proved to be an angel at the worst period, recognising the tiredness induced nature of Harm and Catherine's frayed tempers, she had moved Beth's crib into her own room for a while and had taken on herself the duties of middle of the night care, brushing aside Harm and Catherine's objections with a "Heck, I'm younger than you, I don't need as much sleep as you old-timers!"

She had managed to hold out for a week before the nights of broken sleep took a toll on even her teenage energy and made very little demurral when a refreshed Catherine ordered her to put Beth back in the nursery and surrender the baby monitor.

But that had been a couple of months ago, and now that Beth seemed to have all of her first set of teeth they were hoping her discomfort would fade, letting her, and by extension them, sleep the night through.

Harm and Catherine now made their way downstairs to the family room, where yielding to pressure from Catherine and Mattie, Harm had finally allowed a TV to be installed, and where they settled down together on the couch to wait for Mattie's return, and to watch the latest instalment of what had become their favourite drama series. Although Harm missed the televised coverage of the baseball, basketball and football seasons he found to his surprise that he rather liked some of the British drama series, and although slightly shocked by some of the content he had found himself, with Catherine, drawn into the BBC's 'Rome'. He had also been a bit concerned about its suitability for Mattie, but the first scene that had shown nudity had that young lady muttering about 'overdue school assignment' and fleeing, crimson-faced, to the sanctuary of her bedroom.

But this evening his attention was divided between the goings-on on screen and the hands of the clock on the end wall. "What just happened there?" he asked Catherine, as his attention again lapsed from the screen

"Pullio just took the young Octavian to a brothel," Catherine told him with an exasperated look. "Relax, Harm, she's still got nearly twenty minutes before she's UA!"

"Oh know, I know, I just don't like her travelling the tube this time of night... and then there's the walk from the station to here..."

"Relax a bit Harm, this isn't Union Station!"!

"No, but it's not Vienna, either!" he snapped back, but then at Catherine's raised eyebrow, he flushed slightly and added a muttered, "sorry."

"I should think so too!" Catherine scolded him in a loving voice. "Now hush up and let's watch the end of the show, OK?"

"OK... but it's still weird you know, watching TV without commercial breaks..."

"Weird, but better!" Catherine told him as she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

Harm managed to restrain his growing impatience until just after the clock hands showed half past ten, at which point he jumped to his feet and began pacing – no, stalking, like some huge jungle cat, a tiger, or perhaps a leopard, Catherine corrected herself – the length of the family room, each time he passed the window glaring out of it as if he could summon Mattie by sheer force of will.

And it looked as if his will-power had been enough, at just short of twenty to eleven a car pulled up outside the house and Harm and Catherine exchanged a look as they heard two car doors slam, followed by a pause and then the sound of a key in the front door. The family room door opened and an embarrassed Mattie came in, closely followed by a slim young man with what Harm instantly recognised as a military haircut.

Harm drew himself to his full height, and his hands hanging loosely by his side, he glared at Mattie, "Well, young lady?"

"Dad, I'm sorry... I really am, I thought we'd left Marilyn's in plenty of time..."

"But it was my fault, sir!" The young man took a pace forward and flanked Mattie.

"And you are?" Harm demanded, somewhat ungraciously.

The young man recognised command presence when he saw it and drew himself into a brace, "Second Lieutenant Christopher Bryant, Second Cavalry, sir. I'm Marilyn's Bryant's brother."

"And how are you responsible for Mattie being adrift?"

"I didn't like the thought of Mattie travelling on the subway by herself at this time of night, so I offered to drive her home, sir. We left my family's quarters nearly an hour ago, sir, and we should have been here by twenty-two fifteen at the latest, sir, but despite your daughter's navigation, I missed a turning and had to try to circle around to pick up the route again, but once we were off the direct route, we were both a little disoriented, and it took me much longer than it should have done to find my way back to the right route and get your daughter home, sir!"

"Very well. Mattie, go to your room, we'll discuss this further tomorrow."

"But, Dad .." Mattie began to protest, but Catherine intervened.

"Do as Harm says, Mattie, I'll be up shortly to talk to you..." she shot a glance at Harm, "there's no point dragging this out until tomorrow. Go on, go now," she added coaxingly as Mattie seemed to be inclined to be mutinous.

Mattie gave both Catherine and Harm a pout and then, but being careful not to slam the door, she retreated upstairs.

Harm, who hadn't relaxed his stance in the slightest, turned his attention back to Bryant. "So, all the reason you're late is that you missed a turning?" he demanded sceptically.

"Yes, sir!" the younger officer responded.

"No parking up in darkened lanes?" Harm demanded.

Chris Bryant was staggered, and Catherine saw, angered by Harm's insinuation. His face went pale and his brace became even stiffer and his tone much colder, only just short of insubordination, "No, sir! Mattie is not only far too young for me to think of her in that way, she is also my sister's friend! No, sir, I give you my word – as an officer – that the sole reason I was late returning Mattie to you, is that I took a wrong turning, sir!"

"Tone, Mister," Harm said quietly, in what to Catherine was a bewildering rapid and complete about face, "In that case, thank you for seeing that Mattie got home – even if she is adrift!"

"Yes, sir... but it really wasn't her fault at all. I'm only on furlough here, and I guess I don't know London as well as I thought I did!" Bryant confessed, obviously chagrined at his self-perceived failing. He paused, somewhat mollified by Harm's instant acceptance of his word, but obviously still uncomfortable, "By your leave, sir?"

"Of course," Harm moved to open the door to the hallway, in preparation to walking the young man out. Once in the hallway, Harm turned to face him, "Thank you again, for bringing Mattie home, but next time, either stick to the route, or take a map with you!"

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir. And sir..."

"Yes?" Harm asked, raising an eyebrow,.

"Don't be too hard on Mattie, sir, it really wasn't her fault!"

"I'll bear that in mind, Mister!" Harm assured him. "Good night!"

"Good night, sir!"

Harm stood in the doorway until the car headlights lit up the street as the car pulled smoothly away from the kerb before he went back inside and secured the front door for the night and then returned to where Catherine was waiting for him in the family room.

"That was a pretty rapid about-face," she smiled, looking up from the TV listings magazine.

"Oh. When?" Harm frowned.

"When you suddenly accepted that all that had happened was that young Christopher missed the route," Catherine explained slowly, and Harm could almost hear the 'Duh' in her sentence.

"Nothing rapid about it," he said puzzled. Bryant had given him his word as an officer, and Harm had accepted it, what was so difficult about understanding that? He asked himself. "It's all I could do... he gave me his word," was all the explanation he could find.

"That's one of things I love about you," Catherine smiled as she stood up and closed the distance between them and standing on tip-toe gave him a gentle loving kiss, as Harm's hands came, almost of their own volition to rest on the upper swell of her hips, just to steady her, he told himself.

"And that's one of the things I love about you," he smiled at her once they had broken the kiss.

"And what's that?" she twinkled mischievously, he hands now lying gently on his upper arms.

"Your kisses." He grinned.

"Ah? But... do they work?"

"Depends on what they're supposed to be doing?" Harm asked as suspicion grew.

"Just to distract you from grounding Mattie for the rest of the year... especially as not only would that be cruel and unusual punishment, but it appears that she isn't guilty this time."

"Well... not exactly worked... but they did put me in a listening mood," Harm compromised.

"That's good, too. But how 'bout I make that need to listen redundant, while you secure down here. It's getting late, and it is a school night for you and Mattie!"

"OK... but just get one straight answer from her, if you please... why didn't she call? She had her cell 'phone..."

"Will do!" Catherine replied. "Now, secure all watertight doors and hatches, and then get aloft!"

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Harm grinned.

Catherine climbed the stairs and turned left for Mattie's bedroom, "Mattie?" she called softly as she knocked on the door.

Mattie's answering "Go 'way!" was muffled, as if she had her face buried in her pillow.

"Not going to happen. Come on, it's only me, I promise!"

Catherine waited patiently and after about thirty seconds she was rewarded by the 'click' as Mattie unlocked her bedroom door and opened it, showing a discontented face to her visitor.

"May I come in?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, s'pose so," Mattie said grudgingly, as she turned and threw herself back down on her bed.

Catherine perched on the side of the bed and smiled at the surly teenager, "There's really no need for all these tragic airs, you know." she said confidently.

"No?" Mattie demanded.

"No, none at all, we're not mad at you, you're not in trouble."

"I'm not? Then how come I got sent to my room, like it was a time-out for a naughty toddler? It was so embarrassing!"

"Believe it or not, sweetie, Harm actually did that to save you further embarrassment," Catherine said.

"Yeah? And how did that work?" Mattie demanded, still not in the mood to be mollified.

"Well, he had a couple of questions for the young man that brought you home, and I think he wanted to spare you having to listen to them."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Like, was it really a missed turning, or was there some parking up in a lovers' lane to take into consideration?"

Mattie bolted upright, her face flaming, "Oh, Catherine! He didn't, did he? Please tell me you're kidding?!"

"No, I'm perfectly serious. He asked, Christopher told him no. Harm was satisfied and then Christopher said 'good night', and then he left."

"Ohhh! I'm going to kill him!" Mattie ground out in frustration.

"Who? Harm or Christopher?!

"Harm of course! Oh! How could he think I'd park up with Chris? He's Marilyn's brother! And he's way too old – he's gotta be twenty-three, maybe even twenty-four! Ewww!"

Catherine tried to hide a smile; Mattie thought that twenty three was old? That must make her and Harm totally ancient in the teenager's mind. Catherine covered by adopting a serious face once more, "Harm does have one question for you, and I'd kind of like the answer too. You had your cell phone, right?"

Mattie nodded.

"So... why didn't you call and let us know you were running late? You know Harm gets all..."

"Uptight?" Mattie suggested helpfully.

"Well, I was going to say all bent out of shape when you're running late," Catherine chuckled and was rewarded by a half-grin from Mattie.

"Yeah, I had my phone, but I got a call at lunchtime from Susan..." she saw the question forming on Catherine's face, "Susan Smithfield, from Vienna. I went to school with her there, remember?"

"Oh, yes, of course I remember Susan, blonde girl, right?"

"Yeah... anyway I got this call from her and it kind of used up the charge in my phone battery... It's on charge there, now..." she nodded toward her permanently cluttered desk in the corner of the room.

"Well, you'll probably have to listen to his opinion about that!" Catherine grinned, "But that will be about all!" Catherine smiled and leaned forward to kiss Mattie's cheek before standing and heading for the door, "Good night, kiddo, and don't stay up too late... it's gone eleven already!"

"You mean twenty-three hundred!" Mattie corrected her severely, but with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Catherine turned, grinned and in a creditable imitation of Mattie said "Yeah... whatever!"

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Breakfast the following morning was a stiff affair. Harm appeared to have forgotten all about Mattie's misadventure, and apart from checking that her phone was now fully charged, made no reference to the previous evening, but was his normal, slightly grumpy early morning self, well, until he'd downed a couple of cups of coffee.

Mattie, however, was extremely stiff and formal, barely acknowledging Harm's 'Good morning," and ignoring him at the table as best she could without openly declaring hostilities. Keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her plate of scrambled eggs with smoked bacon and grilled tomatoes. With all her attention focussed on her meal, she missed the raised eyebrows look that Harm sent at Catherine and the reassuring smile that Catherine returned.

As soon as her breakfast was done, Mattie, with the customary, "May I?" made to rise from the table, and on Catherine's nod of permission she did so, depositing her plate on the work-top next to the sink and with, "I gotta get going early this morning," she grabbed her back-pack, and checking that she had her Oyster card made her way out into the hall, where she took her denim jacket from the peg.

"Let me help you with that," Catherine said from behind her, suiting her actions to her words by lifting Mattie's pony tail clear of the collar of the jacket as the teenager shrugged into it.

"So, Kiddo... how long do you intend to make him suffer?" Catherine asked, straight faced.

"Umm... probably for today, maybe tomorrow," Mattie replied, "He seriously pissed me off, you know?"

"Yeah, we kind of figured that," Catherine smiled, "But don't be too hard on him, or drag it out too long, OK?"

"Yeah, OK... you do know that I do love him, right?"

"Of course I know," Catherine smiled, "otherwise he wouldn't be able to get to you so easily!"

""Yeah, that's true... Oh, and I nearly forgot... I love you too!"

"I know that too... now off you go, or you'll be late!"

Catherine offered Mattie her cheek and was rewarded by a kiss, and a cheerful, "'Bye!" as the young woman slipped out of the door, backpack hanging from one shoulder as she made her jaunty way down the short path to the gate to the pavement, and with a final wave to Catherine, turned onto the street and headed for the tube station.

By the time Catherine returned to the kitchen, Harm had his shirt sleeves rolled up and with a bib-apron protecting his shirt and slacks was busy at the sink. "Well?" he asked Catherine as she picked up a dish-towel.

"Just as we thought," she smiled complacently, "Today and maybe tomorrow."

Harm nodded, Yeah... you know..." his smile broadened into a wicked grin, "Mattie would be so mad if she knew we'd figured this out in advance!"

"You can only do it because you love her so much!" Catherine reminded him.

"I know, I know..." he shot her a wicked sidelong glance, "but it's so much fun!"

"Yeah? Well you'd better leave the rest of this to me!" Catherine said with a pointed look at the kitchen clock, "You need to get ready. The car will be here in a couple of minutes!"

"Right," Harm agreed drying his hands, "And that's something we do need to talk about!"

"What, the car?" Catherine asked, pausing in her task, her forehead wrinkled in a frown.

"Yeah, getting one!" Harm said. "We're coming up to the middle of summer. School's going to be out in what... three weeks? And it would be the waste of a wonderful opportunity not spend at least some of the summer vacation seeing some of the sights... there are plenty within easy reach of London, and if I can get leave, there's no reason why we shouldn't go a little further afield."

"What about being on the wrong side of the road?"

"Well, I learned to drive on the left, and I've driven in Australia, so I guess I'll pick it up soon enough. I just have to pass the US Forces in UK driver test to be validated."

"OK.. we can talk about a car this evening," Catherine said, "But here's your office car now. See you this evening!" She stretch up to kiss him gently on the lips.

Harm returned the kiss with pleasure before answering, "That you will, Mrs Rabb, that you will!"

Catherine stood and watched as Harm grabbed his briefcase and garment bag that contained his uniform. Security regulations required that US personnel wore civilian clothes whenever possible while they were off-base, and as an extra security measure even the official cars bore run of the mill UK licence plates.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Harm was buried deep in case reviews when the knock came at his door, looking up he checked the time. Nope, he still had thirty-five minutes before his mid-morning coffee was due, and Yeoman One Amanda Porter knew enough not to disturb him during those hours between the end of staff call and his coffee break.

"Enter!" he called with a frown.

The door opened to reveal his Yeoman, who forestalled his questions with her apology, "Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I've had Commander Moseley's Legalman asking me where Commander Grant is. Apparently he was due in court this morning, and he hasn't shown. Commander Moseley's getting a little hot under the collar... and... well, I've checked around the office sir, and Commander Grant hasn't been seen by anyone this morning."

Harm's frown deepened. He had put Grant's absence from staff call as being necessitated by the court case he was supposed to be prosecuting, and had given his failure to attend as not being worthy of comment. But this was different... a seaman or even a junior Petty Office might be carelessly UA, forgetting to call in if they were sick or delayed, but Grant was an officer, one of Harm's senior attorneys, and as such, his behaviour was pretty well unacceptable.

"Very well, get me a line to Grant's home number, please, Yeoman One!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Amanda withdrew to her desk and called up the JAG Staff and Social list on her VDU and swiftly dialled the number shown. She wasn't sure quite what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what she got when the phone was picked up at the other end.

"_H... Hello... Mommy_?"

Amanda blinked, the voice was female, very young and on the edge of tears.

"No... I'm not your mommy... isn't she there?"

"_No.._." the reply was a wail.

"What about your daddy, is he there?"

"_No..._" now the voice was choked with tears.

"OK... is there anybody else there?"

"_Only S... S... Simon..._"

"Can I speak to Simon, please?"

"_No_." was followed by a hiccup.

"Why not? Why I can't I speak to him?"

"_Cos.. he... he's o... only a baaabyyy_!" the young voice howled.

Seriously alarmed now, Amanda frantically waved a hand, trying to attract attention in the bull pen, and to her relief Seaman Norris looked up and standing started towards her, "What's..." he began.

Amanda covered the mouthpiece of her 'phone an snapped, "Get the Captain out here – now!" before she turned her attention back to the call, "OK, Are you and Simon all alone?"

"_Y... yes..._"

"OK, sweetie," Amanda dropped her voice to a comforting tone, and looked again the screen, there, alongside Commander Grant's name were the names of his wife and their two children. The elder, a girl was identified as Susan Angharad and her date of birth made her six years old, while the boy, Simon Daffyd, was barely three, "You're Susan, aren't you?"

"_Yes... How... how do you know my name...?_" the voice was now not only tearful but suspicious, "_Mommy and daddy said I wasn't allowed to talk to strangers.._."

"Your mommy and daddy were right," Amanda replied and looking up as a shadow fell over her desk, she was relieved to see her CO standing in from of it, even if he did have a distinct frown on his face.

Amanda turned to Norris, and made a shooing gesture to him, and diverting her mouth from the phone whispered, "And shut the door!"

Once she was left alone with Harm, Amanda switched on the speaker and spoke again, "Susan, you're a very clever girl, remembering what your mommy and daddy told you. But I'm not really a stranger, my name is Amanda, I'm a sailor, just like your daddy, and I work with him. Now, can you be even more clever and tell me where they are?"

"_No... daddy went to get mommy... and he didn't come back..._"

Harm and Amanda exchanged startled looks, "Uh... when did he go to get your mommy, Susan?"

"_L... last night..._" Susan wept.

Amanda turned a white face towards Harm, who looked equally appalled, and spinning on his heel he wrenched open the door, "Pass the word for Commander Austin!" He yelled into the bull pen, "No – belay that!" he added as he recalled that his XO was still TAD to the Coral Sea in the middle of the Mediterranean, and paused for a couple of seconds while he mentally reviewed the officers currently in the building. "Pass the word for Lieutenant Mayfield!" he yelled again, before closing it and turning back to his Yeoman, who was still on the phone to the Grant child.

Amanda made up her mind as to what needed to be done before Lieutenant Mayfield arrived in her office, "OK, Susan, this is what's going to happen. Someone is coming to take care of you and Simon, and then they're going to bring you to where you're daddy works... Have you had breakfast?"

"_Yes... I had some Cheerios... but Simon spilled all his and made a mess... Mommy's going to be so mad when she gets home..._"

"OK, that doesn't matter, we'll get all that sorted out... but until we find your mommy and daddy you're going to come here..."

"_No... I'm not allowed to go with strangers_!" Susan was emphatic.

"Yes, you're being very clever again, but if a nice lady in a sailor suit comes to see, you know she'll be OK, won't you?"

"_Are you coming_?" the frightened voice asked.

Amanda didn't hesitate, "Yes, I'll come with her, and we'll both be wearing sailor suits, white ones, like your daddy wears, OK?"

"_Kay..._"

"Alright, Susan, sit tight, we won't be long."

"'_Kay._"

"Good girl, see you soon, sweetie, 'bye."

"'_Bye, 'Manda_," the voice said.

Amanda put the phone down and looked up at Harm to meet a quizzical look, "Taking a bit for granted there, Yeoman One," he scolded her mildly.

Amanda very nearly shrugged, "Didn't see that I had much option, sir," she defended her actions. "Two kids alone, their parents missing overnight, there's no way we could have left them alone any longer. And when she asked if I was going to get them, I could tell in her voice that she wouldn't go with Lieutenant Mayfield without me. That is why you passed the word, isn't it sir? So Lieutenant Mayfield could go and get them?"

"Get who, Yeoman One?" Lieutenant Mayfield asked as she opened the door, "Oh...!" Tali Mayfield blushed as she realised that Harm was also in the office and she had blown a hole in protocol by speaking to the Petty Officer first."Lieutenant Mayfield reporting as ordered, sir!"

Tali listened attentively while Harm briefed her, and at the end of his recounting she nodded decisively, "So... not much time to waste. Have you got an address, Yeoman One?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good, then we'll take my car, I've got Sat Nav fitted, and it'll be quicker than waiting for a pool car, sir!" she added for Harm's benefit.

"Doesn't look like I'm needed here!"" Harm said wryly but with the laughter lines at the corners of his eyes showing, "I might just as well pack up and go back home and leave you two to run the office!"

The two women, officer and petty officer, exchanged looks at Harm's sally but then immediately faced front and chorused "Yes, sir!"

Harm looked at them doubtfully. "Does anyone else know how to operate this thing?" he asked Amanda, indicating the mini-exchange on her desk.

"Yes, sir, Yeoman Two Gomez."

"Good, send her in to cover your desk, and the two of you had best get going!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

The changeover of duties was quickly made and Gomez installed behind Amanda's desk. As soon as she was, Harm retreated to the sanctuary of his inner office where he sat in the big chair and worried and waited.

Once safely outside, Tali Mayfield turned to Amanda and said severely, "That was too damned close Yeoman One, don't _ever_ look at me like that again!"

"If you promise never to look at_ me_ like that ma'am, then we got us a deal!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Tali grinned as she unlocked her car.

"Oh God!" Amanda giggled "That's what I nearly said when he made that comment about leaving the office to us!"

"You did? Damn! I almost said the same thing!"

"Great minds, ma'am?" Amanda said as she settled into the passenger seat.

"Or fools not differing!" Tali agreed as she turned the key in the ignition.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Esmeralda Gomez – Esme to her friends – tapped nervously on Harm's door. He had been neutrally pleasant when she had brought his coffee in to him about twenty minutes earlier, but this was different. She glanced nervously at the two men in civilian suits and their Marine Sergeant escort as she waited for the summons.

"Enter!"

Almost hesitantly she opened the door, "Sir, there are two British Police Officers to see you..."

Harm's stomach lurched. Visits from representatives of London's Metropolitan Police Force, or 'The Met', as it was more widely known were rare but not unknown, but when they arrived unannounced in advance their visits rarely meant good news, and today of all days he had a feeling that the news they bore was bad, very bad.

"Send them in, please, Gomez," he replied soberly, standing to greet his visitors.

"Captain Rabb," the elder of the two greeted him, "You may not remember me, but we worked together on that serial killer case for a short while last year. Detective Inspector Marsh, and this is my colleague, Detective Sergeant Thompson."

"Yes, I remember you, Inspector," Harm agreed and nodded to the junior police officer, "Sergeant. Won't you please take a seat and tell me what the US Navy can do for you?"

The two policemen sat, and Marsh drew a deep breath. "We are trying to trace the owner of a blue Ford Mondeo. We have the registered keeper as a Paul Grant, but we've had no response from his address, but a neighbour told us that she thought he was in the US Navy. Enquiries at the Defence Attaché's office brought us here. Do you know a Paul Grant, sir?"

"I do... he is one of my attorneys, but he is currently UA – Absent without leave, I believe you call it."

Marsh's face fell into even grimmer lines at Harm's answer, "Would you have a photograph of your officer, sir? Maybe a building pass or service ID?"

"Certainly," Harm said with a heavy heart, he was now ninety-nine per-cent certain where all this was leading. He tapped a few keys on his computer and then grunted with satisfaction as he turned the monitor to face the two detectives.

Marsh grunted and pulled a photograph from his inside pocket and compared the two, then turned to his sergeant for confirmation, who merely nodded his agreement.

"Captain Rabb," Marsh spoke heavily, "Last night there was an armed robbery of a seven to eleven corner shop in Kilburn – that's a district near Paddington Station. Shots were fired, three people were killed and two others wounded. Pending a confirmation of ID from you, or another member of your staff, I regret to inform you that Paul Grant was shot to death during the robbery."

"What about his wife?" Harm asked dully.

The two police officer exchanged startled looks, "Wife?" Marsh queried.

"Yes, according to his daughter, Paul Grant, Commander Grant, left his house at sometime yesterday evening to 'get' his wife. Neither of them came home."

"I see, sir... Ah... would you have a photograph of Mrs Grant, I understand that your service dependants carry ID Cards?"

"Yes, they do... but I don't have access to those records... However... Gomez!"

The door opened a crack in response to his call, "Sir?"

"Go to Commander Grant's office, on his desk is a family photograph... bring it to me please."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

The three men waited only for two minutes while Gomez hurried about her task and returned bearing a wooden framed photograph which she passed to Harm. He looked at it for a few seconds, dark-haired Paul Grant and his fair-haired wife, a solemn little dark-haired girl and a younger boy scowling ferociously into the camera. He sighed and passed the photo to Inspector Marsh, who took a long, level look at it and groaned quietly before passing it to Sergeant Thomas who turned a saddened face to his senior and nodded, "Yes, sir, that's her alright."

Marsh nodded, "Judging from this photo, Mrs Grant was also shot during the robbery. However, she wasn't killed. She's in St Mary's at Paddington, in the Intensive Care Unit. She is alive but unconscious, and hasn't, as far as we know, recovered consciousness since she was brought in by the ambulance crew. We didn't know there were kids involved, though... We'll have to get social services and get back to the address, and if the kids won't answer the door..."

"That won't be necessary, Inspector," Harm interrupted the other man, "Two of my people are en route to collect the children, and in fact," he checked his watch, "they should be back very soon!"

The senior police officer's eyes narrowed, "Did you have some sort of prior knowledge about this, Captain? If so, you could well be investigated for obstructing the cause of justice!"

Harm fought down his temper, "No, no knowledge of the robbery, but Commander Grant was due in court this morning, and when he failed to show up, we called his home number only to find that the children were on their own, so I sent two of my staff to bring them here until we found out where their parents had gone."

He ran a hand through his hair, "Well, now we know..."

Marsh nodded in sympathy, "Well, we'll get onto social services and have someone call here to take the children into care..."

"No, No you won't!" Harm said flatly.

"Excuse me?" Marsh said, taken aback by Harm's vehemence.

"Look Inspector, I have had some experience with Child Protection Services at home, most of it highly unsatisfactory, and from my reading the system doesn't fare much better here in the UK!"

"That's a bit unfair, Captain..."

"Is it? Does the name Victoria Climbié mean anything to you?"

Both policemen looked embarrassed at the mention of one of the most notorious failures of child protection in recent years. "Things have improved, Captain Rabb," Marsh protested.

"Maybe, but those children are US citizens and we have a code of behaviour... we don't leave anyone behind, and if someone does get left behind or lost, then we go back and we get them. We will look after our dead, and their survivors! And while their mother recovers..."

"And if she doesn't?" Marsh interjected.

"We will face that eventually if and when it occurs," Harm said heavily, "But in the meantime we will maintain a positive outlook and look after her children until she is fit enough to resume her parental rights, and then we will return them all to the USA. Gentlemen, I realise that this is not how things normally work here, but this is how they will work in this instance, and I'll take the liberty to remind you that this building is part of the Embassy of the United States of America to the Court of Saint James, with all the diplomatic privilege attached thereto!"

"Very well, Captain, your reactions and opinions are noted. Nevertheless the details of this case will be passed to Social Services, and I'm sure that you'll be hearing from them... but..." he cast a cautionary look at Sergeant Thompson, "speaking off the record, I don't blame you for wanting to keep these children out of the clutches of Social Services!"

"Thank you for that, Inspector. Now, where is Commander Grant's body?"

"He is in the mortuary at Saint Mary's...We can take you there if you wish?"

"Do you need to be present at the identification?" Harm asked

"It would be a help," Marsh agreed.

"Then, yes... if you can get me back... no... I'll want to look in on Mrs Grant while I'm there. Can I meet you two gentlemen at the hospital in say... forty-five minutes?"

Marsh nodded.

"Thank you Inspector... Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot to do..."

"Of course... and Captain, I'd just like to say how sorry we are to be the bearers of bad news."

"Thank you, Inspector."

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

It was nearly two hours later that Harm returned to his desk, and with a heavy heart he picked up his phone, "Yeoman One?"

"Sir?"

"Where are Commander Grant's children?"

"They're in Lieutenant Mayfield's office sir. Sir, how's Mrs Grant?"

"Not good..." Harm said bitterly, and paused to think his way through the nightmare the day had turned into, "Get me a line to JAG HQ at the Navy Yard in DC, please, and then you'd better come in and hear the call!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Two minutes later Harm heard Lynne Barker's cheerful voice on the line,_ "JAG HQ, Legalman One Barker, speaking, sir!"_

"Hello, Barker, it's Captain Rabb... I need to speak with Admiral Tucker, immediately."

"S_he's in a meeting, sir, can I take a message?_"

"No. I'm sorry if this puts you in a spot, Legalman One, but tell her I have a Casualty Notification for her, and that this is not a drill!"

Lynne Barker's voice sobered immediately and Harm could visualise the Petty Officer's change of expression as she replied "_Aye, aye, sir_!"

Harm looked up to see his own Yeoman hovering uncertainly just inside the door and he waved her over to one of the visitor's seats, at the same time toggling the switch that activated the speaker phone, just as the JAG's voice am on the line.

"_Captain Rabb?_"

"Yes, ma'am," Harm didn't know the JAG particularly well, she had only been appointed three months prior to his own appointment and the promotion that went with it.

"_What's this about a casualty, Captain?_"

"Last night, Commander Paul Grant and his wife, Myfanwy, were shot during a robbery at a mom and pop grocery store. Commander Grant was DOA and his wife is in ICU at a local hospital with multiple gun shot wounds. Ma'am, she's in a coma, one of the rounds that hit her is lodged at the base of her skull, and she's on life support... The doctors aren't giving her any chance of surviving, and asked me if they could turn off the life support... I... I don't want to do that if there is any possibility of her making a recovery, ma'am... there are two young children..."

"_Dear God... All right, Captain, I'll see if I can get things moving from this end. Have your Yeoman fax or e-mail my office with all pertinent information, and I'll see if I can get a head trauma doctor from Ramstein to come across to see you. If necessary we'll ship her to Ramstein, or if she can stand the journey straight back here to Bethesda! In the meantime, what about the children?_"

"The Brits want to put them into the system, but that's not going to happen!"

"_Damn straight_!" Admiral Tucker agreed, "_We look after our own! So...?_"

Harm was caught flat-footed for an instant, and his mind raced frantically, "Uh... I'll look after them, me and Catherine, I mean!"

Admiral Tucker drew in a sharp breath, "_Are you sure about this Captain_?"

"Not at all ma'am, but there's no-one else that can... and besides..." despite the gravity of the situation he grinned, "the practice will come useful!"

"_But, you have one of your own don't you_?"

"Two, ma'am, one we didn't get till she was way older, and the other is still way younger!"

"_Have you discussed this with your wife, Captain_?"

"No, ma'am! I've only just reached the decision. She'll probably yell at me for a bit, and then reorganise the household while I'm still recovering!"

"_Sounds like a formidable woman! But then, she'd have to be to marry you_!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"_In the meantime_," Admiral Turner, continued in a graver tone, "_What about Commander Grant_?"

"I'll speak with the OIC of the Embassy Security Detachment, and we'll get him shipped home, ma'am. And ma'am, he won't be travelling alone!"

"_I know he won't, Captain!_" Admiral Tucker said warmly.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll keep you informed of all arrangements," Harm replied.

"_Thank you, Captain. And Captain, take good care of those children_!"

"Aye, aye, ma'am!"

Harm replaced the phone in its cradle and turned to his Yeoman, "Did you get all that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Harm opened his briefcase and pulled out a sheet of paper, "This is the official death certificate, signed by the British Doctor who certified Commander Grant DOA. Scan it in to the computer and then attach the scanned certificate to whatever you need to when you go through the official procedure." He sighed, "No doubt about twenty million different agencies will all insist that they need the original, but it's not to go anywhere, understand? Just put it into Commander Grant's jacket, and then bring the jacket to me. And get a hold of NAVOPINSTs for reporting casualties and let's go through it together, making sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed. No slip ups on this one, right?"

"Right, sir!"

"Good girl! – Oh... and when you get back to your desk, first thing, get me a line to my home number!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Amanda kept Harm waiting no more than three minutes before she called him, "I have your wife on line one, sir,"

"Thank you, put me through please..."

"_Hello, sailor, what did you forget?_"

"Hey, spook... I didn't forget anything...Catherine?"

"_Yes_?" Catherine heard something in his voice that banished the levity from her voice and from her mind.

"Catherine, I need you to make up the beds in the spare room... I'll be bringing home a couple of guests tonight."

"_Of course... how long are they staying_?"

"Indefinitely... Catherine, they are a girl and a boy, aged six and four, more or less; Susan and Simon. Their parents were Paul and Myfanwy Grant..."

"_Were_?" Catherine picked up the past tense.

"Yeah... Paul Grant was shot dead last night in a grocery store robbery, and his wife was critically wounded. She's in a coma in a British hospital near Paddington, and the outlook's not good. There's no-one else to look after the children, and if we don't, then they'll end up in the system!"

"_That's not good, Harm. You bring them home_!"

"Damn straight! Catherine?"

"_Yes, Harm_?"

"I love you."

"_I love you too_!" Catherine managed to reply before he put the phone down, and shook her head in wonder, would she ever get used to Harm's sudden declarations? She asked herself. 'God, I hope not!

Harm levered himself up out of his chair and crossed to the office door. "I'm going to introduce myself to the children, keep an eye on things!" he told Amanda.

"Aye, aye, sir!" Amanda replied but with a sense of disappointment, she really wanted to see the children's reaction to her CO. On the other hand, it was probably a good thing. The sight of the two children waiting hopefully in the tiny kitchen of the apartment for their mommy and daddy to come home had had a profound effect on her, and she had been hard put not to lose it completely in front of them, and she suspected that Lieutenant Mayfield had been affected in pretty much the same way and to the same extent.

Harm tapped on the door frame to Lieutenant Mayfield's office, adding a quiet "May I come in?" as the young woman looked up at the door. Harm had to smile, there was very little work being done at the moment, and he suspected that very little would be done for the foreseeable future. Susan was on her knees in front of one of the hard visitors' chairs, drawing on a sheet of paper which Harm strongly suspected ought to have been in the printer-photocopier, while Simon was fast asleep, or seemed to be, cradled in Tali Mayfield's arms.

Tali smiled somewhat shamefacedly, "I don't think he slept much last night, sir. And by the time Yeoman One Porter and I cleaned him up and re-dressed him he was pretty much tired out... he kept asking for his mommy...," Tali Mayfield sniffed audibly, and Harm saw the moisture spring to her eyes, "and he was so frightened by this place that when he started crying... I kinda just picked him up and he..."

Harm sat down in the other visitors' chair, and nodded his acceptance of the Lieutenant's explanation, "Hi, Susan," he said softly to the six year old, who had stopped her sketching and was looking at him.

"Hello." she answered.

"My name's Harm..." he began.

"That's a funny name!" Susan giggled.

"Yes, it is. My oldest little girl, Mattie, she says it's a goofy name!" Harm smiled.

"You got a little girl?" Susan asked.

"I've got two... Mattie's the oldest, but she's not really little any more, she's quite a big girl, and Elizabeth is still a baby..."

"Like Simon!" she asserted confidently.

Harm looked across at the little boy, still sleeping in Tali Mayfield's arms, "No... not quite like Simon, she's a lot younger and a whole lot smaller."

"Like Simon used to be?" she asked.

"Yes, just like that."

Susan nodded gravely as she took in what Harm had told her.

"When we leave here today, Susan, I'll take you to meet Mattie and Elizabeth, and their mommy, Catherine. Would you like that?"

Susan's lower lip began to tremble, "No... I... I... want _my_ mommy and daddy!"

"Oh... sweetheart..." Harm fought to keep his voice from choking, "Come up here a moment," he bent down and offered his arms to the little girl, who obediently turned to face him and he took he gently and sat her on his knee, turning her so that each could see the other's face.

"Susan," he began quietly "You know when God gives us mommies and daddies and brothers and sisters, he wants us to have them forever and ever, but sometimes things happen and God changes his mind, and finds out that he needs somebody back. Well, last night, sweetheart, God found out that he needed your daddy back and he took him away to live with him in heaven. So your daddy is an Angel now, and he can't be with you anymore and that's why he didn't come home last night."

"No! You're lying!" Susan screamed, squirming madly in a desperate attempt to break free of Harm's hold. "My daddy's coming back and my mommy too!"

"Oh, I wish I was, sweetheart," Harm said sadly, "I wish I was... And I wish your daddy was coming back too... but I'm not lying sweetheart, and your daddy has gone to heaven."

"Daddy's gone to heaven?" Susan asked.

"Yes," Harm told her gravely.

"And he won't come back, never?"

"Never," Harm agreed.

"Doesn't he want to come back?" Susan quavered, her large brown, moisture filled eyes dominating her face.

"I'm sure he does, sweetheart, but he can't, because he's an Angel now."

Tears rolled down Susan's face and Harm brushed them away with the gentle ball of his thumb.

"I want my mommy!" Susan hiccuped through her tears.

"Oh, Susan..." Harm fought desperately to keep his voice level, this was hitting very close to home. He had been six, just the same age as Susan, when the navy sedan had pulled up outside their quarters on that Christmas Day, but at least his mom had been there to bear the brunt of the news and to protect him from the harsher realities of life, and then there had always, at least at the start, been hope. His dad had been marked as MIA, not lying on a cold mortuary slab in a hospital basement...

"Oh, Susan... your mommy got a big owie last night, that's why your daddy went to fetch her...but it's a really big owie, and she's got to stay in hospital for a while..."

He looked helplessly over her head at Tali Mayfield, who to his surprise, had tears of her own on her cheeks, but she returned his look and just shrugged equally helplessly.

"Can I go see her?" Susan asked eagerly, her tears drying up as if by magic.

"Not just now, sweetheart," Harm said regretfully, "maybe later, in a few days, when she gets better..." 'if she gets better'. "So... until that happens, you and Simon can come and stay with Catherine, Mattie, Elizabeth and me..."

"But all my books... and Simon's cars and … everything..." Susan's voice trailed off in unhappy confusion.

"That's OK... We'll get someone to go to your mommy's apartment, and they can pack up all your stuff and Simon's stuff and bring it all to my house, and you'll be just as comfortable there as you were at your mommy's. OK?"

"'Kay..." Susan whimpered.

"Good girl!" Harm said approvingly, "Now... it's been a long time since breakfast, hasn't it?"

Susan nodded.

"So... what do you normally have for lunch?"

"A sambridge an' a glass of milk an' if I was good, a cookie." Susan added hopefully.

"Uh huh, and what sort of sandwich do you like? I bet I know," Harm said with a smile, almost willing to bet a month's salary on the answer.

"Peanut butter and jelly!" Susan said triumphantly.

'Yep, I win!' Harm, thought and looked across at Tali Mayfield, who pulled a face and gently shook her head. Harm nodded, the chances of any of the local cafés or sandwich bars having PBJ sandwiches was slim to non-existent, for some reason or other that combination had never caught on in England, not even in a city as cosmopolitan as London.

"Well... we don't have any peanut butter here in the office today, but we've got some at home, so you can have a proper sandwich when we get you home, but until then what other kind of sandwiches do you like?"

"Ham or cheese or tin-of-mayo or egg or..."

"OK, OK," Harm laughed, making an intuitive translation from 'tin-of-mayo' to 'tuna-and-mayo' "I get the message! I guess we'll find something for you! Now, why don't you and Simon come along with me, and we'll let Miss Tali get some work done, while we find you some lunch!"

'Kay..." Susan slid off Harm's knee and waited while he stood up.

"You go on with Susan, sir," Tali Mayfield offered, I'll bring this little guy across, and if he's still asleep we can push two of those armless chairs together for him?"

"Good idea, Lieutenant," Harm said as he held his hand out for Susan to grab hold of, "But we've got to wake him up for his lunch and then try and keep him awake, otherwise he won't sleep tonight!"

Tali Mayfield looked a bit embarrassed, as if she knew but had forgotten about that aspect of child-care, "Yes, sir," she replied quietly.

Harm grinned at her, "Not to worry, Lieutenant, you don't have any kids, and it's something that Catherine and I learned the hard way with Beth!"

Harm and Tali drew a battery of curious, some disbelieving, stares as they crossed the bull pen to his office, where they made the children comfortable, and Tali reluctantly awoke Simon, who was inclined to grizzle until promised his lunch by Harm who knelt down in front of the little boy and gently wiped his tears away with a pristine white handkerchief, and then turned to receive a hug from a still nervously upset Susan Grant.

Amanda Porter and Tali Mayfield watched from the doorway for a few seconds before Tali gently closed the door, shaking her head in wonder. A wonder that was evidently shared by the Yeoman, "I don't know how he does it," she murmured aloud, "After the way that little girl was so upset and suspicious when we brought her here, and within minutes he's got her eating out of his hand!"

"What's not to like?" Tali challenged her, "From her perspective, he's about nineteen feet tall, ten minutes walk across the shoulders, and with a real killer smile!"

Amanda looked at the young officer in mild surprise, and then a grin crept across her face, "You too, ma'am?"

Tali Mayfield started, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Yeoman One!" she protested, but the faint blush of colour that rose to her cheeks gave her away.

"No, ma'am, of course not!" an unrepentant Yeoman One Porter responded.

Lunch hadn't been the logistical nightmare Harm had feared, Amanda had changed out of her uniform and scurried down to the sandwich bar on South Audley Street, returning in triumph in just over fifteen minutes, with a pair of egg mayonnaise sandwiches, and had then raided the galley's milk supply to provide two plastic cups-full.

In fact, Harm reflected ruefully as he wiped down his desk, it was taking him, Yeoman One Porter and Lieutenant Mayfield much longer to clean up after Susan, and more particularly Simon than it had done to procure their lunch and for the Grant children to eat it. Although eat was a bit of a misnomer as far Simon was concerned. Harm shook his head at how unbelievably sticky and messy an egg-mayo sandwich could be with most of it on the outside of the child, rather than in his stomach. Lesson one learned, make sure he had a bib next time!

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

"So... after lunch I sent Tali Mayfield back to the Grants' apartment with instructions to empty the fridge, and collect all the children's clothes, toys, books, toothbrushes and whatever she could find. Which is how come we ended up with that...!" Harm indicated the still mostly unsorted pile of black trash bags that cluttered the end of the family room, as he collapsed on the couch after the almost nightmare of bathing and putting the two weepy Grant children to bed. Simon had become more and more unhappy as the afternoon had gone on, insisting time and time again that he wanted his mommy and daddy, and his tears had set Susan going as well.

Mattie had gotten home from school to be told about their unexpected guests, and while she expressed sympathy for them she demanded, somewhat truculently, "Isn't there anywhere else for them to go?"

"Apparently not, Kiddo," Catherine smiled, "So... as Harm would say, suck it up, Squirt!"

A reluctant grin crossed the teenager's face, "Yeah, I can just about hear him say it!"

"And let's face it," Catherine smiled as she handed Mattie a cup of tea, "do you think Harm would have done anything else? And would you want him to do anything else?"

Mattie took a sip of her tea and sighed, "No... of course not... to both questions!"

Coaxed out of her momentary sulk Mattie had turned-to with a will when the small convoy of Harm's official car with him and the two children in it, Simon securely belted on to Harm's lap, followed by Tali Mayfield's Fiesta, loaded with a pile of black sacks pulled up outside the house.

Harm had ushered the two hesitant children up the path to where Catherine waited just inside the door to give them both a welcome hug, while Mattie sat cross-legged on her favourite bean-bag and just as soon as the bags had been stacked at the end of the room, she had led Susan and Simon on a raid to discover the bags that held their books and toys, with the result that for a while the children forgot about their new surroundings and happily played on the floor, Simon with a pair of toy cars that he 'vroom-vroomed' over the carpet while Mattie and Susan became heavily involved in arranging her formidable collection of dolls in a strict order of precedence, as ordained by Susan.

The first wrinkle came when Catherine called them to the kitchen to wash up before dinner, where Catherine got soap in Simon's eye, sparking off a complaint that mommy never did that and he wanted his mommy.

Catherine squatted down in front of the tearful four-year-old and gently dabbed his afflicted eye with a soft, dry towel, and her own heart aching for the loss he had already, if unknowingly sustained, dried his afflicted eye and soothed, for the moment his tears and fears.

The next hiccup came when Catherine served dinner, Boston baked beans that she had cooked the previous day and re-heated, with the addition of grilled sausage links for herself, Mattie, Susan and Simon. The first bump in the road came as she finished seating Simon and sat down. She Harm and Mattie had picked up their knives and forks but were interrupted by Susan's shocked, "Grace!"

Harm bit his bottom lip and looked at the two women of his family, and they all immediately put their flatware down and bowed their heads while Harm, in some embarrassment muttered, "For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen."

Mattie's 'Amen' was muffled as she fought to keep from giggling at the look of discomfort on Harm's face, while Susan's 'Amen!' rang out loud and clear and was followed by Simon's "'Men!" which threatened to overturn the teenager's dignity completely.

Mollified by a return to routine Susan dug her fork into her dinner and took a first mouthful but after a couple of seconds, her face screwed up in an expression of disgust,"I don't like these... they're not real beans!" she protested.

Harm paused in the act of supervising a towel-wrapped Simon's first mouthful of beans, "What's wrong with them, sweetheart?" he asked quietly.

"They're different!" Susan said discontentedly.

"How different?" Harm asked with a quizzical look at Catherine and then a second look at Simon, who was happily spooning his dinner into his mouth – well, most of it, some was ending up on the towel wrapped around his neck and covering his T-shirt.

"I dunno... they're just wrong!" Susan said defiantly, as she almost threw her fork down on her plate.

Mattie thought for a few seconds and then leaned towards Catherine, "I bet I know! Their mom worked, didn't she?" she glanced up the table at Harm for confirmation.

"I'll bet she didn't have time with two kids to spend hours in the kitchen, and so I bet that she bought those tinned beans in tomato sauce..." Mattie continued thoughtfully and then turned her smile on Susan, "Hey, Susan, do you like beans on toast?"

"Yeah!" Susan said emphatically.

Mattie nodded, "Tinned beans." she finished triumphantly.

"Yeah, fifty seven beans!" Susan said gleefully.

"Oh... we... uh... don't have any of those Susan," Catherine said, "So I made these myself... they aren't too bad are they? I mean Simon's eating them OK..."

"Yeah... but he's a boy!" Susan said scornfully, still eyeing her dinner askance.

"H'mm... I know they are different from us girls, and these beans are different to what you're used to... but won't you give them one more try, just for me... please...?"

"Kay..." Susan reluctantly agreed and with a long-suffering sigh dug her fork back into her dinner and took a second and then a third mouthful...

Harm, Mattie and Catherine exchanged relieved glances and got on with their own meals, Catherine alternating forkfuls of her dinner with spoonfuls of puréed beans for Beth seated next to in her high chair.

Unfortunately the resolution of that little contre-temps was only a calm before the storm and while Catherine and Harm were busy with clearing away, washing up the dishes and then preparing Beth for bed, Mattie did her best to entertain the two tiring and increasingly irritable Grant children.

Beth's bedtime routine was shortened slightly by the need for Catherine and Harm to devote more attention to their young guests and as a result she was only just about drowsing when she was placed in her crib, and for a few breath-holding minutes for her parents it seemed as if she was going to voice her discontent at the disruption to her routine, but in the end she closed her eyes, accepted a pair of loving kisses and drifted off to sleep.

Robbed of their customary few minutes of renewing their bond, Harm and Catherine sighed and descended to the first floor to find a disconsolate Susan, a drowsy Simon leaning against her on the couch, while Mattie was rummaging through the black bags, searching out the children's nightwear and a change of clothes ready for tomorrow for the morning. She had already found their toiletries, such as they were and they now lay on a towel on the occasional table.

Harm and Catherine stopped dead in the doorway to the family room, and Catherine let out an audible groan at the disarray that greeted them.

Mattie looked up from where she knelt by the bags and gave an embarrassed grin, "Sorry about the mess, but none of the bags were labelled... I've got their PJs and some clean clothes for the morning, and I figured that while you were putting them to bed, I'd clear up the mess, and move some of their stuff up to their room..."

"Their room?" queried Harm with a smile.

"Yeah... their room... what else you gonna call it? It's not a 'spare' room any more, is it, and 'guest room' seems... I dunno... a little cold...?"

"You're right, Kiddo," Catherine smiled, "And thanks for doing all this..." she indicated the folded clothes, and the serried ranks of dolls and cars that had been carefully placed on the windows sills where they wouldn't be in the way and perhaps more importantly at the moment, where they wouldn't be stepped on and broken by careless adult feet.

"Yeah, well... I got to do something to earn my keep..." and for a moment it seemed that Mattie was about to say something else, but then with the slightest shrug of her shoulders, she returned to her self-appointed task.

By the time that Susan and Simon had been bathed Mattie had indeed carried much of their clothing up to the room and neatly folded it away into the chest of drawers. She stood back from Harm and Catherine as they settled a crying Simon, who again demanded his 'own' mommy and daddy to kiss him good night, and a silent, sombre-faced Susan to bed.

Once outside the room and the door gently closed to, Mattie turned to Harm and Catherine, "I'm not coming down again this evening... I've got a load of homework to do... and besides, you guys look as if you need some 'together time'," she finished with a smile.

"What have you got to do?" Harm asked.

"Oh... read and make notes on a chapter of 'The Awakening' by Kate Chopin, and then there's a page of calculus problems... shouldn't take too long," Mattie replied cheerfully.

"OK... but don't stay up too late, remember you've got school tomorrow!"

Harm and Catherine smiled their goodnights and as Mattie retreated to her sanctuary they headed downstairs for their together time, which as Mattie had pointed out they were sorely in need of, and after resting peacefully on the couch for some time, Harm pulled himself to his feet and poured two glasses of Tempranillo de La Mancha for himself and Catherine. They sat in silence as they sipped until Catherine asked, "What are you thinking of, long term, for the children?"

"Well, for a start, I'm hoping and praying that Myfanwy pulls through... and then we can send them all home together... though God knows how they'll manage..."

"Trish managed after your dad went MIA, though," Catherine pointed out.

"Yeah, but mom's an exceptional woman," Harm said with a fond smile.

"That she is." Catherine agreed, "and I guess we'll just have to hope that their mom is too... but to get back to, and expand on, my original question... what happens to the children if she doesn't make it?"

Harm shrugged, "We go through channels and find the rest of their family back in the States..."

"Or they get shoved into the system?" Catherine asked.

"No... I don't know what will happen if we can't locate family, but I don't want them to get swallowed up by CPS!"

Catherine nodded, "No... I don't like the idea of that either!"

"Right... but let's cross that bridge when and if we come to it. And now, my lovely wife, it is time, and past time that we hit the sack!"

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Mattie struggled with her calculus homework for much longer than she'd hoped and until much later than Harm would have tolerated had he known, but eventually fatigue won out, and having had a quick shower and changed into her short-length pyjama bottoms and a loose T-shirt, she climbed into bed, turned out her bedside lamp and closed her eyes.

Some time later, much later from the feel of it, Mattie's eyes fluttered open and for a few moments she stared into the dark wondering what had woken her, with a muffled "Shit!" that would have brought Harm's wrath down upon her had he heard it, she rolled over in bed and turned on the bedside lamp, squinted at her watch on the night-stand, saw that the hands stood at ten past three and with a despairing "Oh... fuck!" she flopped onto her back, one forearm raised to cover her eyes. She was about to turn the light off and try to get back to sleep when she heard something... the something that she now realised had woken her. Concentrating, she realised that what she'd heard was someone crying quietly and softly. Too quietly and too softly in all probability to be heard by Harm and Catherine, whose bedroom lay at the far end of the hall. With a muttered, "God, what now...?" she rolled out of bed and shoved her feet into her slippers and pulling on her dressing gown opened the door and crossed the hall to the room where the two Grant children were sleeping... or were supposed to be sleeping she told herself as she cracked the door open to see that while Simon was fast asleep, his face a little flushed, Susan's bed was empty and the bedclothes in disarray.

The sound of sobs led her further into the room where she finally saw Susan crouched in the small gap between her bed and the night-stand that both beds shared, her knees were drawn up to her chin, her arms wrapped tightly about her shins and her face buried in her knees.

Mattie dropped to one knee in front of the crying child, "Hey, Tiger... what's wrong? Come on Susan, it's Mattie, you can tell me... I won't tell the grown-ups, I promise..."

Susan raised her tear-stained, woebegone and embarrassed face to Mattie, "I... I... I've had... a naccidnet..." she hiccuped.

"What sort of accident, sweetheart?" Mattie asked.

Susan just buried her face in her knees again and shook her head.

Mattie looked for any signs of injury but could see none, "Did you fall out of bed, Susan?"

"Nuh-huh," came the muffled answer.

"Have you got a boo-boo?" Mattie asked in increasing bewilderment.

"Nuh-huh," another shake of the head.

"Then what sort of accident..." Mattie began, and then the light bulb at the back of her mind flickered into life, and she stretched out a hand to feel the wetness on the bed-sheet.

"Oh... Is that all, honey?" she whispered, "That's nothing to worry about... here, come on, let's get you all cleaned up, and into some fresh jammies, and then you can come and sleep with me, OK?"

For a moment Mattie feared she might have to tug a resisting child to the bathroom, but after a second or two's worth of hesitation Susan allowed Mattie to help her to her feet and lead her hand-in-hand to the bathroom, where after a quick shower and a dry-off in one of Catherine's huge, fluffy bath towels, warm from the airing cupboard, Mattie picked up the now desperately tired child and took her into her own room. Tucking Susan into bed, Mattie waited the five or so minutes needed for Susan to fall asleep before, with a sigh, she went back to the children's room and the bathroom, where she propped the wet mattress clear of the bed base to dry, and collected the wet sheets and pyjamas and quietly slipped downstairs to put them into the washing machine. Turning the machine's controls to 'Automatic Cycle #1' Mattie turned out the lights in the utility room and beat a yawning retreat to her bed and praying that Susan wouldn't have another accident she slipped under the duvet and gathered Susan's little body in her arms. Reaching back she turned off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes. Seconds later she was asleep.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Catherine slipped into her bath-robe while Harm was in the shower, figuring that it would be best to get the household, including Susan and Simon, through their morning ablutions before she took care of her own, other than immediate, needs and slipped out her and Harm's bedroom, opening the door to the children's room and crossing to the window threw back the drapes before turning around and gasping in surprise. Simon was just beginning to surface, but for the moment Catherine's attention was wholly taken up by Susan's bed, stripped of its bed-linen, and the mattress propped against the wall. Spying the stain on the mattress, still damp as she found when she tested it with the back of her hand, she realised what had happened, and further that someone had taken remedial action, Susan might have been able to strip the bed, but if she had, then where was the bed-linen? And even if that had been the case, there was no way that the little girl would have been strong enough to manoeuvre the mattress into its current position, and anyway, where was the child?. Catherine was certain that Harm hadn't gotten out of bed during the night, she was sure she would have awoken if he had, so that meant there was only one other place where she could be reasonably certain of getting a straight answer to the questions buzzing around inside her head.

Tapping softly on Mattie's door she heard a quietly spoken, "Coming," hard on the heels of which Mattie opened the door and stepped out into the hall, and turning she very quietly closed her bedroom door behind her. Catherine's eyebrows rose slightly as she took in Mattie's appearance, she was already dressed in T-shirt and jeans and her hair was still wet after her morning shower.

"You're up early," Catherine remarked.

"Yeah... I figure we've got a lot to do this morning," Mattie said.

Catherine nodded, "We do, but you still need to concentrate on getting out of the house and getting to school on time." She waited until Mattie nodded her agreement before she continued, "Did you take Susan in with you after..." she nodded in the direction of the other room.

"Yeah, I heard her crying so I went in and found her huddled on the floor, I got her cleaned up, popped her into fresh jim-jams, and put her into my bed..."

"Where are her dirty sheets?" Catherine asked, "I couldn't see them in the room..."

"No... I put them in the washing machine, they should be dry by now... Uh... Catherine, you're not going to yell at her are you? I kinda promised her I wouldn't tell you or Harm..."

"Of course I'm not going to yell at her," Catherine smiled, "But I might decide to yell at you for not calling me and doing all that work in the middle of the night when you should have been asleep!"

"Catherine, I was already awake, it wasn't something I couldn't deal with, so what was the point in waking you up too? And anyway, I've got feeling you're going to be jumping around today like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest!"

"Mattie Rabb!" Catherine half scolded, half laughed, "What would your father say!"

"Um... 'Damn straight'?" Mattie suggested.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Harm might well have agreed with Mattie's summation, if he'd ever been given enough time during the ensuing three days to give it any consideration. Each day brought a phone call from Catherine asking him to 'pick up' some item or other from the local branch of 'Mothercare' on his way home, a booster seat for Simon, a giant economy-sized pack of disposable diapers – or nappies as he was learning to call them – for Beth, and 'phone calls to the Navy Yard to update JAG HQ on the progress made in organising the_ s_ending home of Commander Grant, all to be squeezed in with daily visits to the hospital to see how Myfanwy Grant was doing, and each visit accompanied by a grim, 'No change in her condition', and then on the third day he was met by a tall, unsmiling doctor in the uniform of an Air Force Colonel, who introduced himself as Colonel Markham, the head of neurology at the US Air Force Hospital at Lakenheath, who then said, "We need to talk, Captain Rabb, and gently led Harm away to a secluded area of the ICU.

Sitting down, and gesturing to the empty chair beside him, the tall Air Force medical office said, "I've carried out a full physical examination of Mrs Grant, and I've had a fresh MRI and Cat scan done. I'm very sorry, but Mrs Grant is brain dead. The shot that penetrated her skull has destroyed the brain-stem. Doctor Alexander, from this hospital carried out a brain functions examination yesterday, and I have just completed a similar examination, I am sorry to tell you that clinically, and legally, Mrs Grant is deceased. The only thing keeping her 'alive' is the life support system to which she is attached. I understand her husband was also killed during the robbery, and from Mrs Grant's age, I'm guessing that any children are too young to make an informed decision..."

Harm bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah... six and four... too young even to really understand what death is..." he said in a choked voice.

Markham winced and nodded understandingly, he hated this part of his job, "Have you contacted any other member of her family?"

"They're in the States, if there are any. JAG HQ in DC is trying to trace any relatives of either Commander or Mrs Grant..."

Markham took a deep breath. "The doctors here are not unsympathetic, but they can't afford, in terms of having resources tied up, to keep Mrs Grant on life support indefinitely. They are giving us another forty-eight hours to find a family member to instruct them to keep her on life support, or failing that, they will ask a civilian court for an order to switch off the machines.

"They can do that?" Harm asked horrified.

"Happens all the time where there is no known next of kin..." Markham said, no happier at the prospect than Harm.

Harm slumped forward, his elbows resting on his knees, "Dear God! How am I going to tell the children..." he moaned into his hands.

"I wish I knew..." Markham sighed, sympathising with the Navy Captain, "As many times as I've had to do this, it just never gets any easier..."

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Catherine watched with a worried frown when after the chaos that was dinner, Harm excused himself from the routine clean down and washing up and bolted into his study, and most unusually for him, closed the door, shutting out the rest of the household. She cast a worried glance at the two Grant children, who now having been fed were playing quietly under Mattie's watchful eye at the far end of the family room.

Harm shook his head as he settled into his swivel chair, and reached for his phone. Checking the number, he was still not confident that he had it memorised, he dialled Admiral Tucker's direct line.

"_Tucker_!"

"Ma'am, it's Rabb..." and then he hesitated, he had rehearsed thus conversation in his head at least forty times since his meeting with Colonel Markham, but now the carefully prepared words had fled his mind, leaving him at a momentary loss.

"_Yes, Captain..._?" there was a hint of impatience in the Admiral's voice.

"Ma'am... I... uh... I've just come from the hospital ma'am... Mrs Grant has been declared brain dead, and the doctors want to turn off her life support, ma'am..."

"_Oh, dear God..._" Amanda Tucker breathed.

"Exactly, ma'am. Ma'am... I can't give then permission to do that... I have no medical proxy powers, I'm not related to her, she's not under my command... Ma'am... have you had any success in chasing down any family – his or hers – stateside?"

"_Nothing yet, Captain..Commander Grant was a direct entry via NJS, he was a member of the bar association in Kansas, and we're trying them to see if they have any records that might help us track down any family on his side. He was married here in DC, so I've got NCIS looking for any connections to his wife here, but that's a hell of a long shot, his wife's maiden name was Evans, so that's not particularly distinctive... What happens if we can't find a relative, Captain?_"

"We've got forty-eight hours ma'am, after that the hospital will seek a court order authorising them to switch off the life support system, ma'am."

"_I see... What then_?"

"Well, ma'am, I've already got to convene a Committee of Adjustment in respect of Commander Grant, so we'll go through any and all papers with a fine-tooth comb and hopefully there will be some personal insurance that can be used for transferring her body home... but if there are no relatives... I don't know what happens after that ma'am..."

"_Well, the children will receive all the usual death in service benefits and GI insurance for Commander Grant, but that will be placed in trust for them... Leave that with me Captain, and let me work on it. If we can't find any family, then I will pull as many strings as I need to in order secure a plot for the Commander at Arlington. When can we expect him to arrive, Captain_?"

Harm heaved a sigh, "He's being transferred from the hospital morgue tomorrow morning, to the Embassy, where he will rest until the day after tomorrow, at which time, with a bearer party from the Embassy Security Detail, he will be transferred to RAF Mildenhall, and then on a flight to Dover. He will be accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Parker. I'll get my Yeoman to send flight details and ETA as soon as we get them, ma'am."

"_Very well, Captain Rabb. I'll put a little more pressure on NCIS, and try to get some sort of sense __from the Kansas Bar Association, in the meantime keep up the good work, and keep me in the loop_!"

"Aye, aye, ma'am!"

Harm replaced the phone in its cradle and sat in thought for a few minutes longer, his elbows resting on the desk and his steepled fingers barely touching his chin. At last with a sigh, he hauled himself to his feet, turned out the light and walked the few steps along the hall to the family room.

Mattie was sitting on the couch with Simon snuggled up to her on one side, and Susan in a mirror-image pose on the other, both were looking up at her face as she read to them from a large, and from what little Harm could see, a brightly illustrated book, "Oh boy! Honey! Just what Tiggers like best!" she growled, eliciting a gasp from Susan and a giggle from Simon, "'Oh... I was afraid of that' Winnie replied," this time her voice showed disappointment and resignation, and at this both the children giggled.

Looking up as she became aware of his presence, Mattie blushed and then grinned and gave a slight shrug. Harm smiled back and nodded his approval "Catherine?" he mouthed.

Mattie looked upward, raising her head at the same time to add emphasis, and Harm grinned again, "Roger that!" he mimed again and turned towards the stairs.

Judging by the giggling and splashing noises emanating from the bathroom he guessed that Beth was enjoying her bath and he stopped in the doorway, nudging it open a little further, and a smile spread across his face as he witnessed a naked squirming Beth who, it appeared, was doing her best to make sure that Catherine was at least as wet as she was, and going by the way Catherine's hair was plastered to her scalp, Beth was enjoying a fair measure of success.

Catherine shot Harm a quick sideways look and was relieved to see the smile. He had been unusually quiet since he had arrived home from the hospital, and she hoped that whatever was worrying him had been resolved by his solo time in the den.

"You finished there?" he grinned.

There was something about the quality of that grin that lit up an echo on Catherine's personal radar screen. Two years of living with Harmon Rabb had taught her to be cautious when _that _grin appeared. "Why?" she asked cautiously.

"Here we go again!"Harm puffed in an exaggeratedly long suffering fashion, "Answering questions with questions! Is that something they teach at Spook Lawyering School?"

"Nope!" Catherine flashed back at him, "It's something that I picked up out of pure self-preservation shortly after I got mixed up with an extra-sneaky squid! So... I repeat, why?"

"Well... I thought you might want to hand our daughter to me to dry off, while you go and change. There is no way you can appear in front of Mattie like that! Susan and Simon may not notice or care, but you'll have Mattie complaining that you'll have scarred her for life!" Harm told her, desperately fighting to keep his laughter under control.

Catherine gave him a long, suspicious look and then looked down at herself and gasped, "Oh! You!" she spluttered as she realised that although she was wearing a camisole beneath her blouse, both cotton blend garments were so saturated that they were almost transparent, making her bra-less condition more than just apparent to anyone who saw her.

By this time Harm was grinning widely, and appreciatively at Catherine, who now lifted Beth from the bath, gently wrapped her in a towel, and with a dignified sniff handed her off to Harm, saying, "I'm not worried about Mattie or the two kids, I'm more concerned that I don't give a certain lecherous squid of my acquaintance the wrong idea!"

Harm cradled Beth in the crook of his elbow, her head supported by his shoulder, and snaked out a long arm as Catherine tried to sweep past him, snagging her around the waist and drawing her for a deep kiss, to which she enthusiastically responded, "Or maybe even the right idea?" he asked her huskily as they broke the kiss.

"There's that too!" Catherine admitted slightly breathlessly through swollen lips and desire-darkened eyes.

"Just hold onto that thought, spook!" Harm grinned, and although Catherine was relieved to see that Harm was coming back to her, she still felt vaguely troubled by what she thought was a shadow in his eyes.

With Beth bedded down, it was the turn of Simon and Susan to be persuaded, cajoled and eventually commanded to the bathroom, where despite their protests of not being tired, they were content to be bathed, dried, put into their PJs and after they'd said their prayers, and then tucked into bed, with a kiss each from Harm, Catherine (now in a clean, dry blouse) and Mattie, and almost before their heads had hit their pillows, their eyes had shut and they gave themselves up to sleep.

The door quietly closed, Harm smiled at the two women of his family, and said, "I think we all deserve a mug of chocolate after that!"

"M'mm, lead on!" Catherine said and turned to Mattie, "Don't even think of saying it!" she warned her with a smile.

"What? All I was going to say was 'darned straight'!" the teenager replied with an answering but just slightly too innocent smile.

Harm looked at her shrewdly, "Yeah... riiiight!" he drawled as he led the way downstairs

Catherine and Mattie made straight for the family room, where they quickly tidied up the children's toys and Mattie put their book back on the shelf which was still, to Catherine's eyes, almost empty. The one regret Catherine had had about leaving Vienna was that she'd had to put the vast majority of her books in storage, and she missed them. She had bought a few – more than just a few dozen, according to Harm, but over the years, both in Georgetown and Vienna she had become accustomed to seeing one wall of her lounge covered in laden bookshelves from ceiling to floor.

As Mattie curled up in one of the armchairs, her feet tucked beneath her, she followed Catherine's eyes as she looked at the shelves, and in a moment of intuition understood the sometimes discontented expression that occasionally flitted across the older woman's face.

"You miss them, don't you?" she asked.

"What? Miss what?" Catherine asked, taken off-balance by the unexpected question.

Mattie made as if to throw one of the cushions at Catherine, "You know what I mean. You miss your books!"

Catherine stretched back on the couch and looked across the room at her adopted daughter, "Yeah... I do. I know that my law books would have been pretty useless over here, and packing them would have just meant so much extra work and extra weight, but still..."

"Yeah, but it's not just the law books is it?" Mattie challenged. "You had a beautiful bound set of Jane Austen, and then there were all your naval books..."

"Oh... yeah, I do miss seeing them on the shelves... but the public library is pretty good and I can get hold of the classics and even modern novels at more or less any time... It's... Well, it's just not the same as having my own books here!"

"Do you want them shipped over?" Harm asked entering from the kitchen door, a tray with three large steaming mugs in his hands.

"God, no!" Catherine smiled up at him and struggled into a more upright position to make room for Harm on the couch, "Like I was just telling Mattie, I don't need my law books here, and most of the others I can get from the library if I want to read!" She shot a sly glance at him, "Not that I have much time for that these days!"

"Touché!" Harm agreed, the shadow passing over his face again. But then he raised his arm to rest along the back of the settee and allowed Catherine to take up her favourite snuggling position and once she had, he smiled down at her and allowed his arm to drop onto her shoulder so his hand could gently caress her upper arm

"Uh... you two aren't going to indulge in any inappropriate behaviour, are you?" Mattie asked suspiciously, staring at the couple over the rim of her mug.

"We might do..." Catherine said suggestively, "after all we are married, so it's perfectly legal."

Mattie made an effort and took a large gulp of her chocolate, "OK... just give me a couple of more minutes to finish this and then I'm outta here! There are some things that a teenager doesn't need to see, and somewhere right up near the top of the list is seeing her parents make out on the couch!" Hard on the heels over her words Mattie took another gulp of her drink.

Harm chuckled, "Take it easy, Squirt, we'll give you time to finish your drink like a civilised human being, and a couple of minutes start before we start making out... but before you go, Catherine and I need to say something to you..."

Mattie grew still, and the half-smile slipped off her face as she frantically searched her conscience, "Am... am I in trouble?" she asked.

"Not at a bit!" Harm grinned, "The total opposite! Catherine and I just want to say thank you for the way you've pitched in this week and helped with Susan and Simon. You've gone way above and beyond the call of duty!"

Mattie flamed red at Harm's words and the way Catherine was smiling and nodding her head in agreement with him. "Uh... I... Um... Well... it's just like I told the judge... I wouldn't mind helping with little brothers and sisters..."

"But Susan and Simon aren't your brother and sister," Catherine gently pointed out.

"Oh...I know that!" Mattie said and both Harm and Catherine grinned as they heard the unspoken 'duh' at the beginning of the sentence, "But they're here, and we've got 'em until their mom gets better, and from what you've said," she looked at Harm, "that could be for some time, and we can't expect Catherine to do all the work..." Mattie almost stumbled to a halt as she ran out of steam and then standing she said, "Well, I'll just put my mug in the kitchen and then I've got some history reading to do. Goodnight you two, and don't stay up too late!" she chuckled.

"Just a moment, Matts," Harm said, "Come over here a second."

Mattie looked at him suspiciously but did as she was asked. And once she was within reach Harm looked up at her, "Reduce altitude!" he grinned and knowing what was coming Mattie gave a resigned sigh, blushed and bent over to present her cheeks to Harm and Catherine who both gave her a gentle kiss and followed up with a chorused, "Goodnight Mattie."

"Goodnight – again!" she laughed and whisked away to the kitchen.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Catherine lay in bed, propped up on her pillows as she waited for Harm to finish in the bathroom, not that she expected he would keep her waiting very long. He'd stepped into the shower as she'd stepped out and she'd cleaned her teeth and brushed her hair after drying off, so... she was right. Almost as the thought crossed her mind, he walked into the bedroom, a towel draped around his hips, and her eyes brightened and he heart started beating a little faster, but then to her disappointment, he crossed to his chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of boxers and a T-shirt, before sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling them on.

As he slid under the covers she turned onto her side and propped herself up in her elbow, "Harm?"

"H'mm?" he asked.

"Do you want to tell me what's been bothering you all evening?"

"Who says there is something bothering me?" Harm challenged, as he lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

Catherine reached out a gentle hand and cupped his chin in it, turning his face towards her, "Don't do this, Harm. We promised each other we wouldn't play that game anymore." she reminded him quietly.

Harm winced as he recalled the last time they had tried to pretend nothing was wrong, the resentment had built up on both sides and a spectacular row between them had left a legacy of bruised feelings that had taken weeks to resolve.

"Yeah... OK, there is something..."

"I thought so... you looked really preoccupied when you got in from the hospital... you seemed better after your lock-in in the den... but even when you were kidding around earlier, I could tell something was up... you were a little too cheerful and there was a kind of... shadow in your eyes..."

Harm rolled onto his back and extended his left arm in invitation, Catherine scooted closer and snuggled in close, her head in the hollow of his shoulder, one hand on his chest as he wound his arm about her shoulder and drew her in tighter.

"It's Myfanwy Grant..." he began, speaking softly into the darkness, "the doctors have declared her brain dead, and they want to turn off her life support..."

Catherine listened in silence while Harm told her of his visit to the hospital, his conversation with Colonel Markham and the transatlantic phone call to Admiral Tucker, and then as his voice died away at the end of his story she swallowed hard, twice, before she could speak, "Those poor kids, to lose both mom and dad... it's cruel..."

Then a second thought struck her, "Oh, God, Harm... how are we going to tell them?"

Harm briefly tightened his arm around her shoulders, "I don't know, Catherine, I don't know..."

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Harm put down the telephone, and for a few seconds he buried his face in his hands before he toggled the intercom switch. "Yeoman One,"

"_Sir_?"

"Pass the word, officers' call, to include the judiciary, in the conference room in... thirty minutes."

"_Thirty minutes, in the conference room, aye, sir_!"

The next half hour trickled by, each tick of the clock seeming to take five seconds, but as the minute hand finally crept around to the twenty-five minute mark he pulled himself to his feet and left his office, pausing in the smaller office, he looked at Amanda Porter and sighed, coming to a decision, "You'd better come along too, Amanda..."

Amanda blinked in surprise, the Captain _never_ called her Amanda, but nevertheless she sprang to her feet and fell in behind him a respectful two paces to his left flank rear, until reaching the conference room door he halted and looking back at her, he indicated that she should announce him.

Amanda opened the door, stepped through and announced in clear, bell-like tones, "Captain on deck!"

A clattering of chair-legs on the parquet floor announced that the assembled officers, all curious as to the reason for this disruption to their working day, stood and assumed the position of attention. Harm stood by his own chair at the head of the table and surveyed the assemblage, Commander Meg Austin, Lieutenant Commanders Greg Phillips, Pete Mayhew, Terri Lomax, Mike Webster, Lieutenants Tali Mayfield, Joey Mitchell, Annette Walker, Guy Andrews, Bob Young, Steve Lewis, and Commanders Moseley, Warrington and Phillips from the judiciary.

"Commander Gutierrez, Lieutenants Emery and Moorhead, are still in court sir, and Commander Parker is in the Chapel," Meg Austin volunteered as she saw, but misinterpreted, the frown line between Harm's brows.

"Thank you, Commander." Harm acknowledged the information, it couldn't be helped, no matter what domestic crisis befell the staff of a JAG office, justice had to continue to grind its way forward. "Be seated," he ordered, suiting his own actions to his words.

Once again there was the scrape of chair legs on the floor as his officers settled themselves. Harm looked around the table again, suddenly feeling that the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "I have received a phone call this morning from Saint Mary's hospital at Paddington, and as a consequence of that call, I made a second call to Admiral Tucker in DC. The call from Saint Mary's was to inform me that the British Courts have issued a Court Order to the hospital that Myfanwy Grant's life support is to be switched off. This will occur at eighteen hundred hours, this evening."

A shocked gasp went up from his officers, and he was sure he saw the glint of sudden moisture in Amanda Porter's eyes, ignoring both gasps and suspicion of tears, he continued, "My call to Admiral Tucker was to seek her advice, and to ask whether she had yet managed to locate any of Commander or Mrs Grant's families. She had not. Commander Grant will be departing here in..." he checked his watch, "thirty eight minutes. I intend to go down to the chapel yard and make my farewells to him. All of you, and any of the support staff who wish to pay their respects are more than welcome. He will be met at Dover by an honour guard, and Admiral Tucker, in light of the apparent lack of any family has arranged for his interment at Arlington. Mrs Grant for the moment will remain in the hospital mortuary pending instructions as to the disposal of her remains, and in the light of the current failure to discover any family stateside, Admiral Tucker will arrange for her interment at Arlington. Hopefully this will be in a plot adjacent to her husband."

Harm looked around the table at the sombre faces of his officers, "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I hope to see you in the chapel yard, shortly. He rose to his feet accompanied by Amanda's order, "Ten-hut!" and the clatter of chair-legs on the floor.

Thirty four minutes later Harm, followed by his Yeoman crossed the almost deserted bull pen and made their way through the labyrinth of corridors to the chapel yard exit where to his pleased surprise Harm saw that every single officer, attorney and judiciary alike, had gathered to pay their last respects to Commander Paul Grant as he began his journey home. But what was more gratifying was the sight of the formation of enlisted who had quit their desks for the same reason.

The chapel doors opened and Lieutenant Commander Johnny Parker led out the bearer party of six USMC sergeants in lock step as they bore the flag draped casket to the waiting hearse. Parker stopped by the rear door of the vehicle and waited for the party to approach. As they halted, preparatory to loading the casket into the vehicle, Harm wasn't surprised when Meg Austin's clear voice rang out over the silent gathering, "Ten-hut! Commander, United States Navy Departing – Salute!"

Harm's hand came up to the brim of his cover, and as it did so, he was startled by a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye but when he realised what was happening, his eyes teared as the shrill notes of a Bosun's Call sounded, as from the front rank of the formation a sailor stepped forward and piped the departing officer 'over the side.'

The officers held their salute and the bearer party froze in place until the last note of the call hung in the air, and then as the sound died, Meg Austin's voice rang out again, "Ten-hut!" and hands came back down to sides as the sailor who had sounded the call stepped back into the formation and the bearer party loaded the casket into the hearse.

The Marines marched off to a crisply spoken word of command as Commander Parker took his seat in the front of the hearse and the Marines climbed into an SUV and both vehicles rolled out of the yard as Commander Grant started his journey to Arlington.

As the formation broke up, Harm found himself walking next to Meg Austin, "Thank you, Meg. That was well done, as was having him piped over the side and I should have thought of all that myself!"

"You've got enough on your plate, sir, and the piping wasn't my idea, that was a complete surprise to me too, it was PN Three Morrison, and as far as I know, nobody put him up to it!" Meg told him.

"Well, pass on my thanks to him then, if you please! And tell him it was very well done!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" Meg paused, "What about Myfanwy Grant... are you going to the hospital this evening, sir?"

Harm sighed, "God knows, I don't want to... but..."

"Yeah, there's always a but, isn't there?" Meg asked as she laid a hand on Harm's forearm, causing him to come to a halt. Meg turned towards him and he saw the compassion in her eyes, "Would you like me to come with you, Harm?" she asked softly.

Much as Harm had never called his Yeoman by her first name until today, Meg had never, despite his frequent invitations to do so, called him by his first name since she had arrived in London five months ago, and that she did so now came as a surprise, a welcome surprise, but a surprise nevertheless.

"You don't have to do that, Meg," he answered her, "It's not part of your duties."

"It's not part of my duty as your XO, sir, but it is part of my duty as your friend, Harm."

"In that case, yes. I'd be glad of the support. I shall be securing at seventeen hundred and departing straight for the hospital at seventeen fifteen. If you are coming, be at my office then, but if you change your mind, I won't hold it against you!"

"I'll be there." Meg promised.

Harm nodded and made his way back to his office, leaving Meg staring after him with troubled eyes.

Once safely in his chair, Harm sighed, picked up his phone and waited for Amanda Porter to answer, "_Sir_?"

"Get me my home number, please Yeoman One," Harm said heavily.

"Aye, aye,sir!"

"_Rabb residenc_e."

"Catherine, it's me. It's happening, Myfanwy Grant's life support is being switched off at eighteen hundred hours. So... I'm going to be a little late... don't keep dinner for me... I have a feeling that I shan't want any..." he said quietly.

"_OK..._" Catherine's voice was as subdued as his own.

"Can you keep a normal routine going until I get home, don't let Susan or Simon see that there's anything wrong?"

"_It's going to be difficult, Harm, but I'll try... Oh, those poor kids..._"

"If you were one of my officers, I'd tell you to suck it up, but I can't tell you that when I can't really suck it up myself!"

"_I know, sweetheart, I know,_" Catherine whispered. Her whisper was nearly Harm's emotional undoing.

"I'll see you when I get home," he promised.

"_OK... I love you Harm._"

"I love you too, Catherine," he affirmed in reply.

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

"Back to the office to drop off Commander Austin, please Corporal Davies," Harm instructed his driver as he and Meg climbed into the official sedan, "and then you can take me home!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" the stoic Marine answered as he engaged the gears and let the sedan roll smoothly out of the hospital parking bay.

Harm closed his eyes for a moment, ran his hand through his hair and leaned back against the squabs. "God, I hated that!" he observed.

"Not my favourite past time, either," Meg answered, a mental image forming of how, when the doctor had switched off the life support, the figures on the monitor had unwound to zero and how the various sine waves that recorded Myfanwy Grant's body functions flattened to a straight line, and the intermittent beep that became a single piercing note that lasted until a nurse had stepped forward and turned off the monitor.

"You didn't think the children should have been there, been given a chance to say goodbye to their mom?" Meg asked.

Harm shook his head decisively. "No, let their last image of their mother be her smile and her kiss when she left for work that evening. They didn't need to see her lying so still, with her head covered in bandages..."

"No... I guess not," Meg agreed. "How are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know, Meg, I just don't know. You're about the forty eleventh person to ask me that in that last three days, and I still haven't figured out how I'm going to do it. How do you tell a six year old and a four year old that they're now on their own in the world?"

"I don't know, Harm, I just don't know..." Meg sighed. "The only thing I do know is that I thank God, that I'm not having to do it! But what happens to them now, Family Services?"

"Social Services it's called over here, Meg. But no, that is not an option. Admiral Tucker is trying to find some family for them back in the States, but if she can't, then we'll have to think again. In the meantime they stay with us. It's a damn sight easier keeping them out of the system than it would be pulling them out of it, once they're in!"

Meg nodded as the navy car pulled into the Embassy parking lot, "This is my stop, I think," she half-smiled, "I'm sure you'll think of something. See you on Monday morning, sir!"

"Yes, Thank you, Commander!" Harm waited until Meg had closed the door and the "Home now, please, Corporal."

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

Catherine was waiting for Harm as he stepped through the front door into the hall, and met him with a firm, comforting hug.

Harm smiled down at her and sighed, "Where are the children?"

"They're all in the family room," Catherine replied, "Susan's playing with her Barbie collection and Simon's reading a book... well, Mattie's reading it to him, but he is pointing out the characters and learning to recognise the letter shapes of their names..."

Harm dropped a gentle kiss on Catherine's hair, loving the scent of the vanilla shampoo she had gone back to using after Elizabeth's birth, and then drew a deep breath, "Well I suppose I'd better get it over with... Does Mattie know?"

"Yeah, I had a quiet word with her when she got back from school. She's doing a fantastic job of acting as if nothing had happened... You know how quickly kids can pick up on that sort of thing!"

"Yeah I know," Harm nodded grimly, and then with Catherine at his side he walked into the family room.

Harm sat on the couch and looked at Susan playing at the end of the room, and then nodded to Catherine, who took a seat in one of the armchairs, smiled and called out, "Susan, come here please."

The six year old reluctantly put down the half-dressed doll in her hands and walked across the room to Catherine, while Mattie, over Simon' protests held the little boy in her arms and soothingly hushed him.

Catherine picked up Susan and held her on her lap, and as soon as they were settled, Harm spoke, "Susan, do you remember the other day, when I told you that God had taken your daddy to be an angel, and that he wouldn't be coming home anymore?"

"Uh huh,"

"And I told you that your mommy had a big boo-boo and that she was going to stay in hospital for a long time?"

"Uh-huh," Susan, her eyes huge in her face, nodded.

"Well..." Harm gulped, this felt like the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, "God decided that your mommy's boo-boo was too big to get better, and he's decided that he wants her for an angel too, so your mommy... oh, sweetheart!" Harm's voice broke as Susan's face crumpled and she started to cry as only a frightened and upset child can. "Oh, sweetheart, no..." Harm repeated, but Susan squirmed determinedly out of Catherine's grasp and hurled herself across the room at Harm and onto his lap.

"Oh, Susan, sweetheart," Harm crooned as he gathered the little girl into his arms and held her against his chest as she wept brokenly.

Simon too started crying, but whether it was because he understood his mommy wasn't ever going to come home, or just because his big sister was crying, no-one, not even Mattie who hugged him so closely, was able to tell.

To Harm, Catherine and Mattie, although Mattie soon soothed Simon, it seemed hours before Susan stopped crying, and it was two emotionally exhausted adults and a teenager that finally tucked brother and sister into their beds, showering then with hugs and good night kisses. Susan accepted those from Catherine and Mattie willingly enough but returned Harm's caresses and kisses with an almost desperate enthusiasm, and demanded in a tear-filled voice that he sing them a 'sleepy song'

Harm perched on the end of her bed and after a few moments' thought he started singing, "_Hush a bye, don't you cry, go to sleep my little baby..."_

As his rich tenor voice filled the little bedroom, Mattie gave a gasp and whirled out of the door, almost running to her own room, but Catherine stood in the doorway, silent tears streaming down her face as her husband's voice worked its magic and the two children, as emotionally exhausted as the grown-ups, slipped into sleep while Harm's voice gradually quietened as he sang the last lines, "_when you wake you shall have, all the pretty little horses..."_

Gently standing up so that he didn't disturb the bed, he crossed to the doorway, turning out the light before closing the door, and then looked down into Catherine's tear-stained face. She in turn looked up into Harm's face and for an instant, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the taut emotionless planes of his expression until she looked into his blue eyes and saw the pain he was trying to mask.

"Come on," she cajoled him, let's get you downstairs and some food and a hot drink into you."

"I'm... I guess... I'm not hungry," he replied with an attempt at a smile.

"Just a sandwich and a cup of tea," she urged him, "Something warm inside you, before I take you to bed... because I really need a hug from my husband tonight..."

The pleading expression in her eyes was too much and with a bit of a shrug, Harm resigned himself to doing as Catherine asked, but..."Where's Mattie?"

"She retreated to her room while you were singing... It all got a bit too much for her I guess... maybe she was reliving the night she heard her mom had gone to be one of God's angels..."

"Do you think...?"

"I think she'll be fine... you know what she's like, she hates to let anyone see her cry, but I will check in on her if she doesn't come down before we come back up."

Harm nodded, too tired to argue anymore, "OK..."

It was over an hour later that Harm, having picked up after Susan, and eaten his sandwich and drunk his tea, finally climbed back up the stairs, and showered before tumbling into bed, where Catherine joined him after she too had finished in the bathroom.

Scooting across the bed, she snuggled into Harm's side, whispering, "Hold me, Harm..."

Nothing loath, he wrapped a long arm around her and drew her in close, to where she could rest her head on his shoulder and he could breathe in the scent of her shampoo.

After a few minutes of shared companionship, Catherine tentatively said, "Harm?"

"H'mmm?"

"What happens now? To the children?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, Admiral Tucker's still trying to find family back in the states, so let's hope she comes up with something..."

"And if she doesn't?" Catherine persisted.

"I don't know sweetheart... and I'm too tired to think... let's face that hurdle when we come to it, OK?"

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

It was with some trepidation that Harm hauled himself out of bed on Saturday morning, but once showered and dressed he smiled at Catherine, sat in front of her dresser and blow-drying her hair before he went to wake the children.

He found Simon still fast asleep, but Susan was awake, lying on her side in the foetal position, her eyes flashing open as he opened the door. Harm sat on the edge of her bed, and immediately the little girl sat up and wound her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Good morning, Sunshine," he greeted her.

"Not Sunshine!" came the indignant but muffled retort, "My name's Susan!"

"Oh... alright then, good morning, Susan."

"'Morning."

"It's time to get up, so let's wake up Simon and pop you both in the bath, then we can start thinking about breakfast, OK?"

"'Kay."

So with Simon clutching his hand and Susan clinging like a limpet, Harm got them both to the bathroom, where they were joined by Catherine, now, like Harm, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. The bath was run, the children undressed and put into the water. Harm automatically turned his attention to Simon while Catherine lathered up a sponge and turned to Susan, only to be met with a resounding "No! I want Harm to do it!""

As Simon didn't seem to care who bathed him, Harm and Catherine with a grin, exchanged places and in short order the both brother and sister were stood under the detachable shower head having the newly acquired child-friendly shampoo rinsed out of their hair.

"Now that's done, how about you taking them downstairs for breakfast while I see to Beth?" Catherine asked.

"Sure, but hadn't we best put them in some clothes before that?" Harm grinned.

"You know perfectly well what I meant!" Catherine tried to scold him, but her laugh gave her away. Nevertheless it wasn't too long before Simon was safely ensconced on his booster seat at the kitchen table, while Susan, kneeling on a chair, her elbows on the kitchen counter watched while Harm mixed batter for pancakes and kept an eye on the tray of bacon under the wall mounted grill above the stove, so by the time Catherine carried Beth downstairs Susan and Simon were both tucking into Harm's famous 'dinosaur' pancakes, although as Simon had percipiently remarked, pointing to one of them with his fork, "It's a cow!"

Harm raised an eyebrow as Catherine placed a bib around Beth's neck – he had already, in view of the maple syrup, tied a towel around Simon's neck - "Mattie still in bed?" he asked, surprised at the teenager's non-appearance.

"No... she's in the bathroom, grumbling about needing her own bathroom, but she's been into their room," she nodded at Susan and Simon, "picked up after them and made their beds while I was bathing Beth..."

"And speak of the devil..." Harm murmured, looking over Catherine's shoulder as he did so, "Morning, squirt. What's that you've got?"

"Just the liddlies dirty clothes from yesterday," Mattie replied as she breezed through the kitchen to the utility room, "M'mm... is that pancakes I smell?" she flung over her shoulder.

"Ah well, no rest for the wicked!" Harm smiled as he turned back to the skillet and poured another ladle-full of batter into the hot pan. Harm had made four pancakes and added a couple of rashers of bacon to her plate just as Mattie came to the table, and he placed the plate in front of her.

"Hey, what's this? Don't I get dinosaur pancakes? I get fobbed off with ordinary round ones?" she grumbled as she saw the contents of the plate.

"Well, if you don't want them..." Harm said and reached out his hand as if to take the plate back.

"Don't even think about it!" Mattie warned him as she stretched for the maple syrup.

Harm grinned as Susan giggled, "Mattie's being silly!" she confided in him.

"Yeah, she is!" Harm agreed as Mattie looked across at him, her eyes brimming with laughter, and then she blushed as Harm mouthed "Nice one!" at her.

Harm took it on himself to take Susan and especially Simon to the kitchen sink to get rid of the maple syrup that seemed to have gotten almost everywhere, and under the cover of the giggles and splashing, Catherine took a break from feeding Beth and asked Mattie, "No sheets for the wash today?"

Mattie shook her, "Nuh-huh," she mumbled around a mouthful of pancake, "the rubber under-sheet wasn't needed, but I still say it was a good idea!"

"That it was, squirt, that it was!" Then Catherine's faint smile broke into a huge grin, "You know something Kiddo? Between watching Beth being born, and helping with Susan and Simon, by the time you get around to having some of these of your own, there won't be many surprises left in store for you!"

"Gee, ya think?" Mattie laughed, "I'll bet these three little monsters have got plenty of surprises in store for us all before they're done! What?" she asked seeing Catherine's grin change to a frown, "You are keeping them right? I mean now that their mom and dad are de... have gone to be Angels." she hastily corrected herself, with a guilty look at the trio by the sink.

"I don't know, Mats. I haven't talked about it with Harm yet, and I think there could be issues with the Brits' Social Services and Child Welfare people... I don't think we can keep them without going through a formal adoption process, and I don't know how binding a US court would find that... There's a lot to take into consideration..."

Mattie's face fell, but she took a sip of her coffee before responding, "Yeah... I s'pose so... but those kids... what happens to them if the Admiral can't find any family for them? Get shoved into the system and forgotten about?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, Squirt, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, OK?" Harm contributed from the sink where he was now drying off the two youngsters.

With Simon curled up on the couch with Mattie and a book and Susan in her own little world populated exclusively with Barbie clones, Harm and Catherine settled into an armchair each, and discussed plans for the weekend, eventually deciding that Mattie should babysit all three youngsters while Harm and Catherine hit the local stores for essential supplies, the afternoon being designated as officially lazy, and then tomorrow, if the weather held, a family picnic in the park.

The trip to the stores was uneventful, and truth to be told, both Harm and Catherine appreciated the time together, without the demands of a busy household, and those demands became all too apparent when they returned home to find Mattie almost tearing her hair out as she tried to cope with and soothe three crying children. Almost before Harm had put down the carrier bags he was holding he was nearly knocked off his feet by a tear-stained dark-haired tornado that hurtled from the family room into the kitchen, first colliding with his legs, and then clinging on to them as if her life depended on it.

For a few seconds there was bedlam, woven around the sound of the crying was Mattie's heartfelt, "Thank God you're back!"

While Catherine had to raise her voice to be heard, "What's going on?"

Harm, with difficulty, detached Susan from his legs and dropped to his knees, only to have the little girl wind her arms almost suffocatingly tight around his neck,. His large hands held her tight in return, one of them offering comfort by gently rubbing her back while his softly spoken, "Hey, hey, now..." broke through her misery and after a few minutes, her cries stopped and she sniffled, "You went away... like mommy and daddy... I was scared...not coming back..."

Almost as if by magic, as soon as Susan stopped crying so did Simon, and without them upsetting Beth, Catherine was quickly able to calm her daughter.

What was all that about?" Harm asked Mattie, once peace had been restored.

"Uh... everything was OK, for about half an hour after you left, then Susan started asking where you were,. I told her you had only gone to the store, but she got the idea that you weren't coming back... just like her mommy and daddy didn't. Nothing I said seemed to help, she worked herself up and then started crying, and that set Simon off, and once he started, Beth joined in.

"H'mm," Catherine said, "Separation anxiety..." as she bore in a tray on which sat three mugs of tea, two glasses of milk and a plate of sandwiches.

"I reckon," Mattie agreed.

Harm bent his head to drop a kiss on Susan's head, "How about letting go of me now sweetheart, so we can have our lunch. Look... it's your favourite..." he nodded in the direction of the plate of sandwiches, "Peanut butter and jelly!"

Susan, raised her head from his shoulder, "Peanut butter?" she hiccuped dubiously.

"Yep, with jelly!" Harm confirmed, "So why don't you let Catherine take you and Simon to get washed up and then we can all have our lunch, 'cos I'm starving!"

After lunch Mattie had a further look through the two remaining black sacks that held the remainder of Susan and Simon's possessions and came up with a box of DVDs. With a grin, she held up three or four brightly coloured DVD cases and asked the two, "Hey, Liddlies, wanna watch a movie?"

Simon's eyes lit up, "Yeah – Shrek!" he cried.

"No – The Little Mermaid!" Susan disagreed.

"H'mm..." Mattie sat cross-legged on the carpet, "I'll tell you what guys, why don't we watch Shrek first, that way if it gets too late for Simon, then me an' Susan can watch The Little Mermaid after he's gone to sleep! Whaddya say to that?"

"Yeah!" Simon yelled and clapped his hands, while his sister stayed silent.

"Susan?" Mattie prompted, "He is only little, and we got to cut him slack, besides, it's more fun with just us girls..."

"'Kay..." Susan replied half-heartedly.

"Alright!_"_ Mattie jumped to her feet, "Up to my room, then, and we'll watch the movies on my computer!"

The two youngsters stampeded up the stairs, while Mattie with a self deprecating shrug and a grin at Harm and Catherine followed at a slightly more sedate pace.

"Mattie's turning into a hell of a big sister!" Harm grinned to Catherine.

"H'mm... maybe she's doing too good a job," Catherine replied sombrely.

"What do you mean by that?" Harm arched an eyebrow in surprise as he settled himself on the couch, and lifted an arm in silent invitation.

Catherine settled alongside Harm, her head resting against his shoulder, and looked up at him with a faintly troubled expression on her face. "Well, if she gets too invested in the kids, what's going to happen when they leave us?"

"They won't be with us long enough for her to get really attached to them," Harm objected.

"No?" Catherine was faintly disbelieving, "And it might be too late anyway. Haven't you seen how clingy Susan is? And every time she gets upset, it's you she turns to, hell, runs to - not me, and not Mattie!"

Harm fell silent as he thought over his wife's words and eventually drew a deep breath, "Yeah..."

"Yeah? Is that all you've got to say?" Catherine demanded

"For the moment, yeah, it is. Sweetheart, I've got a whole herd of thoughts rampaging through my head right now, but until I know for certain what's going to happen – and that depends on what, if anything, Admiral Tucker finds out – until then, given my druthers, I don't want to decide or say anything.

Catherine settled back, enjoying the touch of Harm's hand is it drew lazy circles on her upper arm, "OK, if that's the way you want to play it, cards close to your chest, then fine," she smiled lovingly, "But why do I get the feeling you're being more than usually sneaky, even for a squid?"

"Us squids are never sneaky!" Harm objected, as he dropped kiss on the top of Catherine's head, "We leave that sort of stuff to you spooks!"

"Yeah... riiight!" Catherine scoffed as she snuggled in closer to Harm, giving thanks for this time alone with him.

**xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxxx**

Monday morning saw a return to what was fast becoming normality in the Rabb household, once everyone was up, with Harm and Mattie concentrating on getting ready for work and school respectively.

Mattie slung her backpack over one shoulder and with a last mouthful of toast and a hurried gulp of coffee was out the door, with a cheerful, "'bye, all!" leaving Harm to give Catherine, Beth, and now Susan and Simon a kiss before he picked up his garment bag containing his uniform, and made his way out of the front door and down the path to the kerbside where he climbed into the waiting sedan.

"Good morning, Sir!"

"Good morning, Corporal. Bang on time – as usual!"

"Yes, sir!" Corporal Davies grinned, "Gunny'd have my hide if I was adrift!"

"Painful!" Harm grinned in response, wondering how it was his drivers were always cheerful, never once thinking that their behaviour reflected the way in which he treated them. But what he was thinking as he settled back against the seat was of yesterday's events.

Sunday morning had been bright and sunny, with just a hint of a breeze to cool down the late June day, and so according to plan he and Catherine whipped up a picnic basket with food to suit all tastes and with Mattie assisting, they shepherded Susan and Simon together with Beth in her stroller along to the local park, where the attractions of the duck pond caused Harm, Catherine and Mattie some concern as the children were drawn to it like a magnet, while they laughed at the antics of the various waterfowl as other visitors threw lumps of bread into the water for them. This of course elicited pleas from Susan and Simon to do the same, but as neither Harm nor Catherine had considered duck feeding when they calculated what to bring with them there was distinct lack of surplus bread. Chin quivers and lower lip trembles forecast a tearful interlude until an older lady who had overheard the dilemma intervened with a large bag of stale crusts and a cheerful, "Here you go, my dear," to Catherine, "As long as the ducks and all get their bread I don't much mind who throws it to 'em!"

The bag of crusts soon emptied and with a cheerful smile the old lady made her farewells and leaning on a stick slowly made her way to the park entrance.

The feeding concluded, Mattie gathered up brother and sister and led them away about fifty metres to the 'adventure playground', a small area liberally covered in wood chips and containing swings, a climbing frame, a roundabout and a slide, where between pushing the swings and the roundabout, supervising the climbing and catching Simon on his descents down the slide, Mattie succeeded in exhausting herself, if not the children.

Once the picnic had been spread on the blanket brought for the purpose Harm took Beth for a gentle ride on the smallest set of swings, making sure she was securely strapped in before giving her the slightest pushes imaginable, just enough to set her swaying and bring chuckles of delight and a smile to her face.

Lunch eaten Harm insisted on everyone taking an hour's time out before allowing Mattie and the liddlies, as they were fast becoming known, back to the playground, while he and Catherine stayed by the blanket and between gently playing with Beth talked about the small domestic things that were so very important to them.

The excitement and exercise of the day combined to wear-out the children and it wasn't many minutes after dinner before Harm and Catherine had to shepherd them upstairs for a bath and then tuck them into bed, where a sleepy-eyed pair accepted kisses from Harm, Catherine and Mattie and begged for a bedtime story from Harm.

Harm perched on the side of Simon's bed and drew a breath, "Once upon a time he began..." but before he had fairly got into the story of Rapunzel and Rumpelstilskin the two sets of eyes closed and the sound of soft breathing could be heard. With a wry grin at Catherine, he gently closed the bedroom door and the two of them turned their attention to settling Beth for the night.

The effect of his domestic carried Harm cheerfully through the Monday morning staff call, and even enabled him to attack the mountain of paperwork in his In-Tray with a fair degree of complaisance, and he surprised himself by the amount he had completed by lunch time. Changing into civilian clothes for lunch, he strolled down to the Sandwich Bar on South Audley Street to indulge in an egg salad panini and a cup of fresh brewed coffee, exchanging nods of acknowledgement with Tali Mayfield who was sharing her table with a man whom he recognised as being an Air Force Captain, one of the Defence Attaché's staff.

Harm's good mood lasted all the way until fourteen thirty hours when the shrilling of his telephone disturbed his work. A glance at the LED display told him that it was his Yeoman calling and with a silent sigh, he picked up the handset, "Yes?"

"_Sir, Admiral Tucker on line one for you_."

"Thank you, Yeoman One, put her through, please."

Harm waited for the clicks that told him the connection was made, "Captain Rabb, ma'am."

"_Good afternoon, Captain, Admiral Tucker here_."

"Good afternoon, ma'am. How can I help?"

"_Rabb..._" there was a strange note in the Admiral's voice that Harm didn't quite like the sound of, "_I have a mixed message. We, that is NCIS, have traced Commander Grant's family. He was an only child, and sadly his parent are both dead. His mother died about ten years ago, and his father three years ago_."

"What about the children's maternal grandparents, ma'am?"

Admiral Tucker gave a snort of what might have been repressed laughter, "_Believe it or not, it was Lieutenant Commander Roberts who traced them. They live in Northern Maine, but they're members of a religious group similar to Jehovah's Witnesses, who refuse to have anything to do with the military, and when their daughter decided to marry Paul Grant, they completely disassociated her from them and their... sect, for want of a better word, and they are point blank refusing to accept the children_."

"How's this disassociation work, ma'am? Can they be compelled to take the children, after all they are kin..."

"_As far as I can tell, disassociation is like Amish or Mennonite total shunning, the disassociated become virtual non-people. As for compelling them to take the children, it doesn't look good; any pressure put on these people is met with civil court action alleging interference in their constitutional rights in denying them their freedom of religion._"

"I see." Harm replied gravely, his mind whirling.

"_Where are the children now, Captain?_"

"My wife and I are looking after them, ma'am. We want to keep them out of the system if at all possible."

"_That seems a little risky, from a legal standpoint Captain._"

"I agree ma'am... but they are US citizens, a little too young to vote maybe, but we can't just leave them with the British child care services and forget about them.

"_We can fly them back to the USA, you know._"

"Yes, ma'am, and what happen to them once they arrive at Andrews, or wherever?"

"_CPS_." Admiral Tucker said slowly and reluctantly.

Harm took a deep breath, not knowing how what he was about to say would turn out, _"_Ma'am... can we leave off making a decision for say... forty-eight hours? I need to carry out an investigation at this end, and then get a second opinion."

"_Are you trying to make an end run around the law, Captain Rabb?_" Admiral Tucker asked severely.

"No ma'am. I would not put you in that position!" Harm protested.

"_Very well, I shall expect to hear from you by zero nine hundred hours EDT on Wednesday morning!_"

"Yes, ma'am!"

**xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx**

"That's terrible!" a nearly tearful Catherine protested when after the children had been put to bed Harm recounted the telephone conversation with Admiral Tucker.

"I don't like it much, either," Harm confessed, "But if they are back in the States, they won't be strangers in a strange land..."

"Can't we do something?" Catherine asked plaintively.

"Like what?" Harm asked.

"Couldn't we adopt them?" Catherine asked, holding her breath as she gave voice to the thought that had been running through her mind for the past few days.

"Are you serious?" Harm asked.

"Deadly serious! They seem to like us – well you, especially – Mattie gets on well with them. We can offer them stability, a familiar environment... We can certainly afford to look after them..."

"It's going to mean extra work for both of us, two more children around the house... Susan needs to be enrolled in the DoD elementary school for September, and there's no kindergarten classes available for Simon, so he'd be here at home with you for the next couple of years..."

"Well, all that, apart from one thing, is true enough, but it's something that millions of moms cope with every day of the week, and it's not like I'm not at home with Beth all day..."

"Yeah, OK... but... I'll have to look in to it, see what the legal ramifications are, and whether it's easier to adopt here in the UK, or would it be best if we took a vacation back home, and got it sorted out in DC.

"Whichever is better for the children." Catherine agreed placidly.

"Yeah... the quickest, easiest and least painful route," Ham concurred. But then a thought struck him, "What did you mean by one thing I said wasn't true?" he demanded.

"Oh... that!" Catherine pretended to think hard for a moment, although the gleam in her eyes revealed her imp of mischief, as she cocked he head to one side in the bird-like manner that always reminded Harm of her mother, "Well, when you said there'd be two more children around the house, you were wrong."

"I was?"

"You were. There won't be."

"No?" a puzzled Harm asked, "There won't?"

"There won't." Catherine confirmed, and reaching out she took hold of Harm's hand and laid it gently on her stomach, "There'll be three more children running around the house!"

Harm grinned in delight, and then his eyes took on an even brighter gleam, "See, it's just like I told your mom all those months ago… I knew God had a reason for giving you those hips!"

**The End**

(for now)


End file.
